Swallows, Sparrows, Robins, and Kingfishers: Anthroponymic Symbolism in David Lodge’s Campus Trilogy

Abstract: This essay will survey David Lodge’s use of anthroponymic symbolism in his campus trilogy, Changing Places (1975), Small World: An Academic Romance (1984), and Nice Work (1988). Of particular interest here are Lodge’s characterizations of Philip Swallow, Morris Zapp, Robin Dempsey, Robyn Penrose, and Arthur Kingfisher, especially in how Lodge uses the cultural traditions surrounding avian associations to push along his satiric narratives. The world of birds, it turns out, can get very serious, and a close reading of Lodge’s novels adds a layer of criticism about what may be called his academic realpolitik .