Prose Theory Flashcards
Essay
A narrative account of an extended period of some person’s life, written by, or presented as having been written by, that person; or the practice of writing such works.
• It is not a scientific treatise and offers no proof;
• It may tell the story of a self, but it is not autobiography or memoir;
• It may contain facts, but it is certainly not always to be trusted.
Features of the slave narrative
slave narrative can be most simply defined as a slave’s account of his/her life as a fugitive, escaped or freed slave.
• Very popular genre with a wide readership.
• I-witnesses revealing their struggles, sorrows, aspirations, and triumphs in compellingly personal story-telling
• Strong emotional and sentimental appeals.
• Set structure (Record of the slave’s birth and parentage, description of the slave’s master, mistress, or overseer, …)
Neo-slave narratives (i.e. The Long Song) are marked by a fully developed black subjectivity that complicates or directly calls into question traditional historiography of traditional slave narratives.
They can borrow and replicate to varying degrees the formal conventions of the classic autobiographical slave narratives of the 18th and 19th centuries, but they often challenge them by reimagining the official historical record to assert the voice and agency of the texts’ narrator/ protagonist
Autobiography
A narrative account of an extended period of some person’s life, written by, or presented as having been written by, that person; or the practice of writing such works.
• In his influential definition, Philippe Lejeune (1975) has spoken of an autobiographical pact or contract between autobiographer and reader which testifies to the author’s intention to tell the truth about his life. According to Lejeune, the author of an autobiography implicitly declares that s/he is the person s/he says s/he is and that the author and the protagonist are the same.
• Auto-/biography is not and cannot be 100% referential of a life. Auto-/biography is more properly to be seen as an artful construction of that life.
Life writing
A modern term meant to cover the general realm of non-fictional writings about the lives, experiences, and memories of individual people or small groups of people. Thus although excluding most other kinds of history or ethnology it includes autobiography, biography, and memoir, along with certain kinds of diary, journal, letter, travelogue, and personal essay.
Fiction vs non-fiction
- earlier classic works have established a firm boundary where fiction essentially involves imagining whereas nonfiction essentially involves believing
- At present however, there is a significant tendency in literary studies to see the fiction / non fiction border as permeable
Style analysis
Style: “Any specific way of using language, which is characteristic of an author, school, period, or genre. Particular styles may be defined by their diction, syntax, imagery, rhythm, and use of figures, or by any other linguistic feature.” (Baldrick 321)
• → A characteristic set of linguistic features associated with a text or group of texts
• When examining the style of a text, one scrutinises mainly two aspects:
• diction (the choice and use of words)
• syntax (the sentence structure).
=> In other words, one examines which words are used and how these words are put together. Styles have been classified:
• According to the period (e.g. Augustan, Metaphysical,…),
• According to individual authors (e.g. Chaucerian, Shakesperean,…),
• According to language (e.g. scientific, expository, journalistic,…).
Symbol
In the simplest sense, anything that stands for or represents something else beyond it—usually an idea conventionally associated with it.”(Baldrick 165)
• A rose, for example, has long been considered a symbol of love and affection.
• Ravens, for example, have long been considered a symbol of death and foreboding.
• Motifs must recur throughout the story; symbols appear once (or only a few times)
=> The gramophone as a symbol in William Somerset Maugham “The Outstation” (1924)
Motif
Motif (also: trope, topos): A motif is a repeated pattern—an image, a situation, incident, idea, or character-type that comes back again and again within a particular story.
• A motif is never singular. If you see something repeating, underline it and consider it carefully. Ask yourself: WHY does the author want me to notice this image or pattern?
• A theme is an abstract concept that underlies the entire story.
• A motif is a recurring element throughout the story that points toward that theme
=> The river and forest as a recurring motif in William Somerset Maugham “The
Outstation” (1924)
• “The air was scented with the sweet-smelling flowers of a tree that grew at the entrance
to the arbour, and the fire-flies, sparkling dimly, flew with their slow and silvery flight.
The moon made a pathway on the broad river for the light feet of Siva’s bride, and on the
further bank a row of palm trees was delicately silhouetted against the sky. Peace stole
into the soul of Mr. Warburton.” (83)
• “The river flowed ominously silent. It was like a great serpent gliding with sluggish
movement towards the sea. And the trees of the jungle over the water were heavy with a
breathless menace” (86).
—> Typical phrases and concepts:
• ‘Carpe diem’ → seize the day;
• ‘ubi sunt’/’where are’ → nostalgia;
• ‘vanitas/vanity’ → everything is transitory;
• ‘memento mori’ → remember death.
• ‘The Chosen One’ → Hero destined to greatness
=> Multiple and varying motifs can occur within one work and across longer collections.
=> Oftentimes, a motif will recur in similar situations throughout the story. (Ex harry potter being the «chosen one»)
Theme
A salient abstract idea that emerges from a literary work’s treatment of itssubject-matter; or a topic recurring in a number of literary works.” (Baldick 258)
• The ‘big topics’ of a work of literature.
• What is a work of literature about in a most general sense?
• Themes ≠ Genres: Genres are used to categorise literature, while themes are what a specific story is about.
=> The colonialist experience, psychological pitfalls of isolationism are themes in William Somerset Maugham “The Outstation” (1924)
Reliability
Beyond telling and showing, narrators can also make explicit and implicit commentary on the story, sometimes at the expense of characters (ironic narrator) or themselves (unreliable narrator)
Ironic narrator: A narrator who makes statements about the characters or events in the story that mean something very different, even the opposite, of what is being stated.
Unreliable narrator: A narrator who makes statements that contradict what the implied reader knows (or infers) to be the real intention or meaning of the narrative
Focalization names
Internal / external focaliser
Omniscient
Limited
Objective
Objective focalisation
The narrator has no knowledge about the internal or psychological states of any
of the characters in the storyworld and can only report what can be observed from the outside.
Limited focalisation
The narrator has limited knowledge about the internal or psychological states of one or some of the existents in the storyworld.
Omniscient focalisation
The narrator is like a God of the storyworld, knowing everything about its existents, including the internal or psychological states of all characters and the unfolding of events.
Internal / external focaliser
- Internal focaliser: The narrator tells the story from the subjective perspective of a focal character, revealing their inner thoughts and feelings as if they could somehow enter inside or read their mind.
- External focaliser: The narrator tells the story without presuming to know or have access to the subjective perspective of any character, simply reporting what can be observed from the outside.
Narrative voice names
First/second/third person narrator
External / internal narrator
Overt/ covert narrator
