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Narrative Domination in The Songs of Maldoror
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Hassan Zokhtareh   |
| Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran |
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Abstract: (398 Views) |
The heterogeneity of The Songs of Maldoror is such that any attempt to classify this text within a specific literary genre will inevitably fail. Although many critics place this seemingly prose text from the latter half of the 19th century within poetic literature, there is no doubt that beyond the apparent incoherence and formal transgression of this innovative work, the existence of an authoritative narrator, possibly the sole unifying element, ensures the coherence and internal unity of the six chants. The narrative domination extends so far that, parallel to the prevalence of discourse on the narrative, the narrator never allows the reader of Lautréamont’s text to identify with the story and, by succumbing to the referential illusion, to deviate from the ideal reader to become a poor reader. The constant reference of the text to the act of narration, interrupting the flow of the story, the address to the narratee, especially at key points in the text, and the interpretation of the statements and the story, all attest to the strong presence of the narrator and narration in The Songs of Maldoror. The presence of such a self-reflective and narcissistic narration, from the very first lines of the text, challenges the expectations of the 19th-century reader and demands a fully conscious reading, an active reading that plunges the reader into an endless quest for meaning and constantly confronts them with fundamental questions about the nature and functions of key concepts such as writing, reading, narration, the author, and literature |
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| Keywords: Narratology, Discourse, The Songs of Maldoror, Conscious Writing, Reading |
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Full-Text [PDF 632 kb]
(151 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2024/09/19 | Accepted: 2024/09/19
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