Fiction and narration Lecture one

Aristotle’s division  Drama  Lyrical poetry  Epic poetry / fiction

 Any novels that made impression on you?  Any important novels in your life?

The art of telling  to narrate: Latin – narro, narrare – to tell  narrative:  primary cognitive instrument  Modern psychology: fundamental role of the narrative in the cognitive process  apart from paradigmatic thinking, is one of the two fundamental ways of thinking (J. Bruner)

 Surrounded by stories / narratives:  confessions, jokes, testimonials, gossip, novels, films (they all tell stories)  Narrative: a fundamental way of organizing experience  Narrative is strongly related to exercise of power and control

Universality of narration  Storytelling universal human practice:  international, transhistorical, transcultual  Most social interaction - narrative Roland Barthes

The powers of narrative  Frederic Jameson: “reality comes to us in the shape of stories”  Many serious psychological dysfunctions:  inability to construct relevant narratives (or auto-narratives )

Powers of the narrative  storytelling used in psychological therapy  powers of the narrative:  reduce content and seduce the reader  also to subvert and disrupt

The novel - fiction  Relatively late  England 18 th century

Several precursors in the West  Epic poem  Chivalric romance  Italian novella  Picaresque novel

Asiatic tradition of fiction  The Tale of Genji ( 源氏物 語 Genji Monogatari) by Murasaki Shikibu (11 th c.)  Romance of the Three Kingdoms ( 三國演義 ) by Luo Guanzhong (14 th c.)

Epic: ancient precursor of the contemporary novel.  Characteristic features of an epic:  Long, narrative poem in elevated style.  The protagonist – figure of great importance.  Happens at an important moment in history.  Vast setting.  Presence of the supernatural forces (gods, goddesses, angels, demons, magical objects or powers).  Narrated with a measure of objectivity.  Detailed description of characters and setting.  All events relate to the central theme.

Characteristic conventions of the epic  Begins with the invocation (usu. to the muse).  Narrative opens in medias res.  Often includes extended formal speeches of the characters.  Frequently uses elaborate epithets and similes.

Major types of epics  Primary (folk or oral, for recitation) Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Beowulf, Song of Roland, Cid, Gilgamesh.  Secondary (literary or art epics – composed, written down): Virgil’s Aneide, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Milton’s Paradise Lost.

Chivalric romance  Expresses tendency in literature opposite to that of realism  Originates from the epic tradition  Developed in the context of aristocratic courts

Features  Tale in verse or prose about improbable adventures: quest  Idealised protagonist (upper-class, heroic, devout, strong etc.).  Remote and enchanted setting (→ the marvellous and the mythic)  Elements of courtly love  Presence of the chivalric code / ethos

Three main cycles of medieval romances:  The matter of Britain (Arthurian romances).  The matter of Rome (Alexander the Great, Trojan wars, Thebes).  The matter of France (Charlemagne and his knights).

 In many European languages (e.g. French, German or Russian) the term romance or roman is synonymous with the novel

NOVELLA  Italian origin, means a “piece of news.”  A piece of short narrative, concentrating on a single event situation or conflict. It produces elements of suspense.  Most famous example: Boccaccio, Decameron ( ).

Other features  Characters are ordinary people.  Realistic and sparse description.  Focus on action, usually comprising of some mischief with sexual undertones.  Celebrates human vitality and shrewdness.

PICARESQUE (picaresca)  Originates in the 16 th century Spain  Most famous: Lazarillo de Tormes (1553)  Spanish: picaro – (picaroon) rogue, knave  Famous picaresques in English literature:  Thomas Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller (1594).  Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders (1722).  Henry Fielding, Jonathan Wild (1743).  Tobias Smollet, Roderick Random (1748).

Features  Special type of character:  low-life, cunning, with strongly anti-heroic features  Typically, servant of many masters, often involved in criminal activity.  A chronicle of the adventures: episodic structure  No character development or progress  Simple, plain style, realistic manner in description  Satire of society

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes ( ) First European novel: part I ; part II  A psychological portrait of a mid-life crisis  Satirizes medieval romances, incorporates pastoral, picaresque, social and religious commentary  What is the nature of reality?  How does one create a life?

THE “FATHERS” OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL  Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719).  Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (1726).  Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740).  Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews (1742), Tom Jones (1749).  Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy (1759)