The narrative strategy becomes specially significant in evaluating a novelist like Nadine Gordimer whose evolution as a writer of merit considerably depends on its skillful, competent use. The ‘narrative technique/strategy’ may be interpreted as the way or the manner in which a novelist gives a detailed account of a number of connected events, the experiences which may be true or fictitious by using skill.
Gordimer's novel, The Conservationist was a joint winner of the Booker prize in 1974. As a critic remark in the Observer (quoted on the back flap of the text), “The author of this gravel beautiful book has transcended her considerable talent and produced one of those rare works of imaginative literature that command the special respect reserved for artistic daring and fulfilled ambition. Gordimer has earned herself a place among the few novelists who really matter. The Conservationist reads as if it had to be written.” The narrative strategy of the novel is complex, and involves an equivocal treatment of the prediction of political change, the nature of a benighted white consciousness and the idea of conservative. The central protagonist of the novel, Mehring’s, the white 'colonizer', is not the narrator. A variety of different styles are used to suit varying needs in the novel. But a pre-eminent contrast may be that between present-tense narration of what are presented as Mehring's current actions and thoughts, and past-tense narration of past events, of the contemporary activities of others like Jacobus, the chief farmhand, and of enduring conditions and habitual activities, Gordimer's third- person narration is directed to the portrayal of back society here. The narrator privileges of the white personified in him, old, pass...
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...ten ironic relationships between the self and the other, the individual a society. A totally different discourse enters the narrative, undermining the kinds of analysis that seems to dominate the story as in The Conservationist. In short, The Conservationist has all the techniques of a modern novel; symbols and metaphor flood it.
Works Cited
1. Clingman, Stephen R: The Novels of Nadine Gordimer: History From the Inside, London: Allen and Unwin, 1986.
2. Gordimer Nadine, The Conservationist, New York: Viking Press, 1975.
3. Hope, Chiristopher: ‘Out of the Picture: The Novels of Nadine Gordimer’, London Magazine, 15, April / May 1975, 49-55.
4. Perrine, Laurence: Story and Structure, New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, Inc. 1959.
5. Thorpe, Michael: ‘The Motif of the Ancestor in The Conservationist’, Research in African Literatures, 14, No.1, Spring 1983, 184-92.
As soon as the novel begins, we are introduced to the concept of saving the environment. The book begins with the narrator explaining his life-long dream of helping the world. He says that the cultural revolution of the 1960’s contributed to his ambition. However, as time went on he
Ecological Adaptation within Literature, “The Yellow-Wallpaper” In the thrilling short story, “The Yellow-Wallpaper,” Charlotte Perkins Gilman captivates readers and critics through many literary techniques, including distinctive discourse, a first person perspective on neurosis, and an array of symbolic overtones. However, while these other approaches provide highly educational insight, there is another perspective of Gilman’s story that Heidi Scott, a professor at the University of Maryland, offers: the application of ecology. She writes in her journal article, “Crazed Nature: Ecology in The Yellow Wall Paper,” how the unnamed narrator taps into her animalistic instinct and allows her body to adapt to the new ecological surroundings. In order to best understand Scott’s analysis, I will explore a brief summary of the story and Gilman’s life, the different ecologies that the narrator experiences, the transformation from one to the other, and the strengths and weaknesses of Scott’s argument.
Narratives are an important part of an essay as they create a sense of tone needed to describe a story or situation with ease. If the narrative is not correct, it can leave a false impact on the readers or viewers because it lacks the main tone of the story. Having a perfect narrative can not only enhance a story, but it can also prove evidence. In her essay, “An Army of One: Me”, Jean Twenge provides some of the best examples of how narratives enhance a story and she also emphasizes on how the tone of storytelling matters on the impact that the story would have on its readers or listeners. Apart from Twenge, Tim O’Brien also focuses on how the narrative of the story can help in understanding the truth and falsity of the story in his essay, “How to Tell a True War Story.” In addition to O’Brien, Ethan Watters also emphasizes on the narrative of cultural progress in his essay, “The Mega-Marketing of Depression in Japan”, when he talks about the anti-depressants to be sold in Japan. All three authors agree to the fact that narrative, the art of telling a story or explaining a situation, has a major impact on the story and on how it is taken by the audience.
...e, Brian. "A Wartime Alliance." White Hunters: The Golden Age of African Safaris. New York: H. Holt, 1999. 167-73. Print.
Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. “The Norton Introduction to Literature.” New York: W.W Norton &, 2014. Print.
The writer starts of the anti-environmentalists section by setting a mockery tone and explaining that the side arguing sees their opposing side as inferior. The writer sets it up so that the anti-environmentalists argue in a very childish manner. They use words like “enviros” an “wackos”. The superior state allows them to exaggerate on the characteristics of these conservationists. The anti-environmentalists openly accuse the environmentalists of always looking for power. He exaggerates their policies to make them sound hungry for power. Next, the writer becomes incongruent and tries to get people on his side by saying that these men and women are trying to pass laws and become very powerful to take control and transform this country.
Jorgensen. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985. Twayne's English Authors Series 415. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.
Equiano, Olaudah. The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African: an authoritative text. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.
Greenblatt, Stephen, and M. H. Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 9th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2012. Print
Since the rise of the American environmental romanticism the idea of preservation and conservation have been seen as competing ideologies. Literary scholars such as Thoreau and Muir have all spoke to the defense of our natural lands in a pristine, untouched form. These pro-preservation thinkers believed in the protecting of American lands to not only ensure that future generations will get to experiences these lands, but to protect the heavily rooted early American nationalism in our natural expanses. Muir was one of the most outspoken supports of the preservation ideology, yet his stylistic writing style and rhetoric resulted in conservation being an adopted practice in the early 20th century
Schorer, Mark. "An Indignant and Prophetic Novel." The New York Times Book Review. 12 June (1949) 1,16.
The change from differing mediums, novel and film, reveal characteristics and possibilities of narratives. Through the advancement of technology, modern writers
Harmon, William, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996.
Ford, Boris, ed, The Pelican Guide to English Literature volume seven: The Modern Age, third edition, Penguin Books, Great Britain, 1973
In the simplest form, there is a basic structural pattern to narratives, as expressed through Tzvetan Todorov’s explanation of narrative movement between two equilibriums. A narrative begins in a stable position until something causes disequilibrium, however, by the end of the story, the equilibrium is re-established, though it is different than the beginning (O’Shaughnessy 1999: 268). Joseph Cam...