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The Politics of Narration: James Joyce, William Faulkner, and Virginia Woolf

3.6/5 ( ratings)

In The Politics of Narration, Richard Pearce shows how most readings and theories of reading mitigate the power of narrative disruptions of texts, particularly those of high modernist texts. He chooses to look at the three chief exemplars of modernism, Joyce, Faulkner, and Woolf, in order to examine a range of disruptions and their importance for us as readers. In doing so, he shows that telling stories is always a political act, whether or not the author regards it as being one, and building on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, Julia Kristeva, Nancy K. Miller, Eve Sedgwick, and Martin Green he sets forth a model for exploring the politics of narration.

Modern literature, it has been agreed by most critics, generally works against totalizing conventions--forms and explanations that neatly wrap up character, plot, and language. Although critics say that this is what modern fiction is about, as Pearce shows, they then overlay that observation with explanations that deny the basic premise. He would agree that Joyce, Faulkner and Woolf all challenge the traditional authorial voice, disrupt the storyline, develop alternative voices, and undermine narrative authority. Nevertheless, Pearce contends, the authorial voice has a residual power that cannot be escaped. It employs traditional conventions to make power relations seem natural, speaks through other narrative voices, and co-opts or lends its authority to voices that would seem to challenge it. The evidence of this conflict, as it builds throughout the book, clearly has tremendous importance for feminist theory in particular and for attempts by minority writers to create new traditions of writing fiction.

The Politics of Narration is clearly written and accessible to generalists as well as specialists.

Language: English

Pages: 200

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Release: June 01, 1991

ISBN: 0813516560

ISBN 13: 9780813516561

The Politics of Narration: James Joyce, William Faulkner, and Virginia Woolf

3.6/5 ( ratings)

In The Politics of Narration, Richard Pearce shows how most readings and theories of reading mitigate the power of narrative disruptions of texts, particularly those of high modernist texts. He chooses to look at the three chief exemplars of modernism, Joyce, Faulkner, and Woolf, in order to examine a range of disruptions and their importance for us as readers. In doing so, he shows that telling stories is always a political act, whether or not the author regards it as being one, and building on the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, Julia Kristeva, Nancy K. Miller, Eve Sedgwick, and Martin Green he sets forth a model for exploring the politics of narration.

Modern literature, it has been agreed by most critics, generally works against totalizing conventions--forms and explanations that neatly wrap up character, plot, and language. Although critics say that this is what modern fiction is about, as Pearce shows, they then overlay that observation with explanations that deny the basic premise. He would agree that Joyce, Faulkner and Woolf all challenge the traditional authorial voice, disrupt the storyline, develop alternative voices, and undermine narrative authority. Nevertheless, Pearce contends, the authorial voice has a residual power that cannot be escaped. It employs traditional conventions to make power relations seem natural, speaks through other narrative voices, and co-opts or lends its authority to voices that would seem to challenge it. The evidence of this conflict, as it builds throughout the book, clearly has tremendous importance for feminist theory in particular and for attempts by minority writers to create new traditions of writing fiction.

The Politics of Narration is clearly written and accessible to generalists as well as specialists.

Language: English

Pages: 200

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Release: June 01, 1991

ISBN: 0813516560

ISBN 13: 9780813516561

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