New Readings of the American Novel: Narrative Theory and Its Applications

My interest in some of the materials developed here was first raised within the University of Nottingham Critical Theory Group. I would like to thank friends and colleagues within that group who offered helpful comments on individual sections of my manuscript: most especially -Elizabeth Boa, Diane Knight, Elaine Millard, and Douglas Tallack. I tested out some of the critical approaches represented here with my students. My thanks for their patience, cooperation, and ideas. Gavin Cologne-Brookes, working under my supervision toward his Ph.D. on William Styron's novels, discussed Bakhtin with me at length. I hope our conversations were as useful to him as they were to me. My special thanks to two colleagues from my department whose help has been even more substantial. Richard King was ever-willing to read chapters and part-chapters for me in draft form. His good advice and warm encouragement were invaluable. So, too, were David Murray's. He read both separate sections of the book as I was proceeding, then the complete text at manuscript stage, and his comments were always incisive, always constructive. I consider myself privileged to have such colleagues and friends. With the help of all those named above, this book is much better than it would otherwise have been. I also wish to thank Caroline Egar and Moira Eminton for the concern and care which she brought to this project; and Freda Duckitt, our departmental secretary, whose speed and accuracy in typing the book, despite other tasks at hand, was greatly appreciated. John Clements, the best of friends, provided the basketball, bourbon and good talk which gave vi Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-7 Speech Representation, Focalization and Narration in The Great Gatsby....Pages 8-43 Time and Narrative: Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury....Pages 44-85 Slippery Stuff: The Construction of Character in The Sun Also Rises....Pages 86-129 The Dynamics of Reading: A Lost Lady....Pages 130-161 The Portrait of a Lady and The House of Mirth: A Barthesian Reading....Pages 162-203 The Clash of Language: Bakhtin and Huckleberry Finn....Pages 204-242 A Medley of Voices: Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God....Pages 243-287 Back Matter....Pages 288-328 This study introduces a variety of theoretical models for the reading of narrative: Genette, Barthes, Bakhtin, Iser, among others. Its aim is pedagogic; to show how such models can be used to explain how a text's effects are created, and to make such applied readings available as negotiable practice for a student audience. The seven American novels discussed come mainly from the traditional `canon'; a final chapter on Their Eyes Are Watching God argues, however, for a broadening of the boundaries of `literary' discourse. Second revised edition of this introduction which highlights the importance of narrative theory, applying theoretical approaches such as Genette, Barthes, Bakhtin and Reader Response criticism to eight key American novels is updated in the light of recent developments in the field. A study of eight key American novels, this text applies theoretical approaches, including Genette, Barthes, Bakhtin and reader response criticism, highlighting the importance of narrative theory. This edition has been fully updated in the light of recent developments in the field. Employing theoretical approaches drawn from Genette, Barthes, Iser, Ricouer, Bakhtin, and others, Messent provides an accessible and stimulating bridge between the European theoretical tradition and the American novelistic canon