A Model of Construction of Narrative Identity in Dickensian Novels

Authors

  • Nadia Nicoleta Morărașu

Keywords:

identity construction, narrative identity, textual identity, acts of naming, name, narrative participants, plot

Abstract

As a result of a process of accumulation and sedimentation of reference materials on narrative structure, I have developed a model of narrative identity shaped through the acts of naming with three coordinates: construction of the identity of narrative participants, construction of plot identity and of textual identity (see Morăraşu 2007). In discussing the problems of building the identity of narrative participants, I have first considered the multiple identities assumed by authors, the basic types of narrative situations, narratives and narrators; then, I have indicated the concrete techniques of constructing the identity of the characters. Considering that the process of “emplotment” (Ricœur 1990) may be based upon the assemblage of some naming patterns, the name becomes the most powerful tool for interpretation, offering us an immediate and profound understanding of the character and of the plot.

References

Avădanei, Ş. 2002. Introduction to Poetics. Vol. 2. Iaşi: Institutul European.

Chatman, S. 1978. Story and Discourse. Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. London: Cornell University Press.

Cohn, D. 1978. Transparent Minds. Narrative Modes for Presenting Consciousness in Fiction. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Cmeciu, D. 2003. Signifying Systems in Literary Texts. Bacau: “Egal”.

Dickens, C. 2001. Bleak House. Hertfordshire, UK: Wordsworth Edition Limited.

Dickens, C. 1992. David Copperfield. Hertfordshire, UK: Wordsworth Editions Limited.

Dickens, C. 2002. Dombey and Son. Hertfordshire, UK: Wordsworth Editions Limited.

Dickens, C. 1982. Oliver Twist. Leicester: Charnwood.

Dickens, C. 1994. Our Mutual Friend. London: David Campbell.

Dickens, C. 1995. The Old Curiosity Shop. London: David Campbell.

Forster, J. 1927. The Life of Charles Dickens. London: Dent.

Genette, G. 1972. Figures III. Paris: Editions du Seuil.

Melnyk, G. 2003. Poetics of Naming. Edmonton, Alberta: The University of Alberta Press.

Morăraşu, N. 2002. A Linguistic Approach to Names and Naming in ‘Dombey and Son’. Cultural Perspectives. Journal for Literary and British Cultural Studies in Romania 7, 82-103.

Morăraşu, N. 2007. The Shaping of Narrative Identity through the Acs of Naming. Iaşi: “Pim”.

Poruciuc, N. 2005. The Status of Anthroponyms in 20th Century English and Romanian Fiction, Iaşi: Casa Editoriala “Demiurg”.

Ragussis, M. 1986. Acts of Naming: The Family Plot in Fiction. New York/Oxford: Oxford UP.

Ricœur, P. 1990. Soi- même comme un autre. Paris: Editions du Seuil.

Ricœur, P. 1992. Oneself as Another, trans. K. Blamey. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Stanzel, F. 1984. A Theory of Narrative, trans. C. Goedsche. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.

Stump, J. 1998. Naming and Unnaming. On Raymond Queneau. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.

Toolan, M. 1990. The Stylistics of Fiction. A Linguistic Introduction to English Fictional Prose. London: Routledge.

Whitebrook, M. 2001. Identity, Narrative and Politics. London: Routledge.

Downloads

Published

25-06-2021

How to Cite

Morărașu, N. N. (2021). A Model of Construction of Narrative Identity in Dickensian Novels . Philologia, 8(1), 115–122. Retrieved from http://philologia.org.rs/index.php/ph/article/view/199

Issue

Section

Nauka o književnosti/Literary Studies