The One vs. the Many

By :"Alex Woloch"

Published on 2009-02-09 by Princeton University Press

Category :"Literary Criticism"

Does a novel focus on one life or many? Alex Woloch uses this simple question to develop a powerful new theory of the realist novel, based on how narratives distribute limited attention among a crowded field of characters. His argument has important implications for both literary studies and narrative theory. Characterization has long been a troubled and neglected problem within literary theory. Through close readings of such novels as Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, and Le Père Goriot, Woloch demonstrates that the representation of any character takes place within a shifting field of narrative attention and obscurity. Each individual--whether the central figure or a radically subordinated one--emerges as a character only through his or her distinct and contingent space within the narrative as a whole. The \

The One vs. the Many

Lenght : 408

Language : en

This

The One vs. the Many

was ranked 11 by Google Books