An Intertextual Approach to the Question of Literary Plagiarism: Ian McEwan’s Atonement, Solar, and My Purple Scented Novel

ABSTRACT

In 2006 Ian McEwan was accused of plagiarizing sections of his 2001 novel Atonement from Lucille Andrews’ memoir No Time for Romance. This article explores how McEwan develops defenses against this charge in two later works of fiction Solar (2010) and My Purple Scented Novel (2016). Relying on his readers’ recognition of the intertextual nature of these texts McEwan metafictionally indicates that his literary refashioning of aspects of Andrews’ factual memoir absolves him of the charge of plagiarism. In so doing he also invites his readers to compare his putative plagiarism with the admitted literary transgressions of Jacob Epstein and Martin Amis. Assessing these defenses leads both to a discussion of the literary value of historical accuracy and to recognition of the roles that privelege and power play in discussions of plagiarism, whether literary or academic.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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James Stacey Taylor

James Stacey Taylor’s current research focuses on the nature of academic misconduct, including plagiarism, in both fiction and fact. His most recent book is Markets with Limits: How the commodification of academia derails debate (Routledge 2022).