As a relatively "new" genre, the short story has received little attention compared to other forms like the novel. Some attempts to define the genre approach it comparatively and systematically---an effort to distinguish the short story from other forms, or to distinguish between different kinds of short fiction. This essay instead proposes a "cluster" of elements that tend to characterize the short story, as derived from the romantic, impressionist, realist, modern, and postmodern traditions. Edgar Allan Poe's notion of "unity of effect" provides a critical standpoint to discuss these features. Poe's concept of unity also partakes in the essay's discussion of the self and the text. Questions of the self are often present in the short story, and the fragmentation of identity often parallels the short story's formal and stylistic fragmentation. The stories in this collection present characters in varying states of crisis, as they negotiate the boundaries of the self, or otherwise question what the "self" means.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.101887 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Klingenberg, Emily. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of English.) |
| Rights | © Emily Klingenberg, 2007 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002666682, proquestno: AAIMR38457, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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