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RContin - Modernist Fiction. V. Woolf and J. Joyce - Notes of 23th January 2012. The Modernist Fiction
by - (2012-01-23)
Up to 5B - Modernist Fiction. V. Woolf and J. Joyce
THE MODERNIST FICTION – Notes of 23th January 2012
The modernist fiction is different from the traditional one about many features.
The first different aspect is the position of the narrator. He is a third person omniscient narrator but he is omniscient in a different way between the two types of fiction. In traditional novel he knows everything about every character while in modernist fiction he knows just what is crossing throughout the character’s mind. In the first case he is also intrusive because he speaks with the reader and he filters everything about the story; in the second case the narrator is not intrusive and he is eclipsed from the story.
The writing technique used in the novel is related to the position of the narrator: in tradition fiction the technique is the telling (the narrator reports just what he wants to tell), in modernist fiction it is the showing (the narrator reports the view of images and emotions of the character’s mind).
The position of the reader depends on what kind of narrative technique is used by the narrator. In the Victorian period novel came out in monthly instalments chosen by the novelist while in modernist period subjectivity holds the most important role in the novel and it is reported as it appears to the narrator.
Another key difference is the arrangement of the novel. Traditional novel privileges the chronological reporting of events and a logic development of the plot. In modernist fiction there is a non-chronological arrangement because the narrator shifts in characters’ mind. The shift of point of view is connected to the concept of time in modernist fiction: time is simultaneous and it is the sum of past (memories) and future (hopes) in the present consciousness of the character.
The modernist fiction is different from the traditional one about many features.
The first different aspect is the position of the narrator. He is a third person omniscient narrator but he is omniscient in a different way between the two types of fiction. In traditional novel he knows everything about every character while in modernist fiction he knows just what is crossing throughout the character’s mind. In the first case he is also intrusive because he speaks with the reader and he filters everything about the story; in the second case the narrator is not intrusive and he is eclipsed from the story.
The writing technique used in the novel is related to the position of the narrator: in tradition fiction the technique is the telling (the narrator reports just what he wants to tell), in modernist fiction it is the showing (the narrator reports the view of images and emotions of the character’s mind).
The position of the reader depends on what kind of narrative technique is used by the narrator. In the Victorian period novel came out in monthly instalments chosen by the novelist while in modernist period subjectivity holds the most important role in the novel and it is reported as it appears to the narrator.
Another key difference is the arrangement of the novel. Traditional novel privileges the chronological reporting of events and a logic development of the plot. In modernist fiction there is a non-chronological arrangement because the narrator shifts in characters’ mind. The shift of point of view is connected to the concept of time in modernist fiction: time is simultaneous and it is the sum of past (memories) and future (hopes) in the present consciousness of the character.