The object of this thesis is to study the monologue, a dramatic genre that re-emerged on the Spanish literary scene in the 1970s. Despite the fact that a number of well-known Iberian playwrights have cultivated this genre assiduously over the past three decades, their work has received relatively little critical attention from either academic or theatre circles. What is sought here, therefore, is the means to demonstrate the importance and richness of the monologue as an autonomous dramatic creation. To do this it was necessary to establish a sufficiently large corpus--some eighty long and short monologues--and identify those particular conventions and the structural diversity that would make possible the formulation of a theory of connected language functions in the monologue by adapting existing theoretical principles to the study of this singular genre. The application of this theoretical construct enabled me to determine the nature of the functions of expression, communication and persuasion present in the discourse of a single speaker. / Specifically, in considering the function of expression I reflect both upon the coherent discourse that derives from the (exterior) verbalization of (interior) thought and emotion, and upon the objectives and consequences of such expressions of the mental and emotional states of the individual. Secondly, I focus attention on the same verbal discourse inasmuch as it reflects the complex function of communication manifested in both an immanent and in a transcendental form. Such complexity derives from the fact that, if verbal discourse here is enunciated either in isolation or before an interiorized addressee (a fictional being), it is always emitted in the "presence" of an external addressee (the theatre audience/or reader). Finally, my study of the function of persuasion underscores the idea of empowerment: the authority of the word that is wielded by the monologist upon his/her addressee(s), a verbal manipulation that takes place both within the fictional world and beyond. / In short, this thesis seeks to show how the monologue as a fictional dramatic genre questions the viability of interpersonal relationships.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.40379 |
| Date | January 1996 |
| Creators | Lauzière, Carole. |
| Contributors | Sibbald, K. M. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | sp |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Hispanic Studies.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001541281, proquestno: NN19739, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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