The objective of this paper – Trusting the reader: On impressionistic narrating in Stig Claesson's writings with the novel Brev till en hembygdsgård as starting point – is to examine narrative techniques used by the Swedish author Stig Claesson, specifically some which fall within the broad field known as literary impressionism: e.g. omission, repetition, juxtaposition, episodic narration and how access to the narrator’s as well as individual characters' consciousness is handled. The method used for the study will be that of illustrative comparison. The analysis will seek its theoretical grounds in the works by Gerard Genette and Jonathan Culler. In the major parts of the study, narrative techniques used by Claesson in the novel Brev till en hembygdsgård (1974), is examined with the help of Robert Paul Lamb and James Nagel, and their studies concerning the crafts of Ernest Hemingway and Stephen Crane. In addition, other novels by Claesson are used in order to find, illustrate and then compare his craftsmanship with techniques already studied and described by scholars and critics. The main result from the analysis is that a need to trust the reader follows from Claesson’s choice of narrative techniques; by having the narrating instance mainly represent perception – without allowing the narrator, or the characters of the narrative, to interpret what’s rendered – the reader is left to experience sensation on her own. To assist the reader, Claesson binds together his episodic narration with a frequent use of juxtaposition, in which colors, objects and scenes already used, are re-used – hence having one scene charge the next, and so on, with previously evoked emotions. Furthermore, Claesson frequently uses omission in conjunction with repetition as a narrative technique; often when the narrator returns to an already used scene, she is excluding some of the information given to the reader earlier in exchange for some previously omitted information or for elements belonging to other scenes. The study finds that a consequence of Claesson’s combination of the above mentioned techniques, is that his texts calls for a reader to take an active part in creating meaning both from the text and from their own experience. Finally, the study suggests that Claesson, like any craftsman, recognized that once the work is done and delivered, it is up to the recipient to use it according to their own ability, imagination and discretion.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-110230 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Malmsborg, Thomas |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Avdelningen för litteraturvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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