The purpose of this study was to analyze and evaluate the narrative strategies within the family unit in Harriette Arnow's novel, The Dollmaker. The analysis of the narrative strategies reflected in family stories offered insight into how family members are "identified" or bonded to the family unit. A critical construct was proposed using Kenneth Burke's theories of substance, identification and consubstantiality for the analysis of family narratives as a means of familial identification.Four narrative themes were isolated which typified the storytelling activity in the family.The analysis revealed patterns of language, images and related rhetorical dimensions which affected the process and degree of familial identification. The analytical tool developed for this study was demonstrated to be of considerable utility when applied to a literary artifact. Further refinement of this tool would result in a more workable instrument for analyzing the storytelling activity which permeates the family unit.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/183165 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Worthington, Marianne |
| Contributors | Freeman, Dorothy E. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | 141 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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