This term paper seeks to explore the creation of fictional worlds in the two short story cycles Dubliners and Our Village. Naturally, it requires a lot of effort to analyze world-making in a literary text: there are so many criteria that need to be examined. But despite these difficulties, I still venture to take a deeper look at the different modes of fictionality, because I believe that such an inquiry will help us discover the operation principles of world-making. And due to their collaged variety of world views, short story cycles might be the ideal research objects if we want to determine what makes fictional worlds credible.
In order to reach this goal, I will first introduce my own theory and methodology of world-making that will focus on a large set of criteria at the endo-narrative, exo-narrative, and meta-narrative levels. The described criteria will then be set to use in the analysis of the two short story cycles. The main points for examination during this process will be mood, emotionality, rhetoric and narrative strategies, since I regard them as the most fundamental aspects that contribute to the credibility of a story world. Thus, I hope to evince both the elements that might make a fictional world real/concrete and any eventual interferences which may be detrimental to the credibility of the stories.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The theory and methodology of world-making
2.1 The endo-narrative level
2.2 The exo-narrative level
2.3 The meta-narrative level
2.4 A short overview of the analytical criteria used in this paper
3. Narrative modes in James Joyce’s Dubliners
3.1 Using words to mirror a city
3.2 Of narrative composition and deformation
3.3 Symbolism and allegory in Dubliners
4. Mary Russell Mitford’s Our Village as provincial fiction
4.1 A collaged variety of the countryside
4.2 The symbolism of place
4.3 A Utopian world
5. Conclusion
Objectives and Research Focus
This paper examines how fictional worlds are constructed in the short story cycles "Dubliners" and "Our Village," aiming to discover the underlying principles of world-making and how various narrative techniques influence the reader's perception of these worlds.
- Analysis of world-making at the endo-narrative, exo-narrative, and meta-narrative levels.
- Exploration of how narrative modes and rhetorical devices create immersive environments.
- Comparison of Joyce’s Naturalist, paralysis-focused realism with Mitford’s idealistic, provincial fiction.
- Investigation into the role of reader empathy and emotional involvement in maintaining world credibility.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2 Of narrative composition and deformation
As already explained above, the stories in Dubliners are augmented by a large number of geographical details, room descriptions, and literary cityscapes that serve as references to the extra-textual world. This has the effect of linking the stories to all the personal experiences and prior knowledge that the readers might bring to the fiction experience. They can use the pictures already stored in their minds in order to imagine a story world that resembles their subjective views of Dublin. And, thus, it almost feels as if the depicted scenes were indeed anchored in our “reality”—at least as far as one can speak of a common reality that forms the basis of our individual perspectives.
But despite these “reality markers” that lend the story world a certain sense of coherence and credibility, there are also many deviations towards more subjective schemes. According to Terence Brown, Joyce’s “portrait of a dismal, enervated provincial world […] owes its exacting, diagnostic realism in part to Joyce’s admiration for those plays by Ibsen in which the lives of the Norwegian living-dead are seen ‘steadily and whole, […] with perfect vision and angelic dispassionateness, with the sight of one who may look on the sun with open eyes’” (xv). And yet, the narrator only sets his eyes on the darkness, ignoring the positive aspects of the city and countering all moments of hope with an overwhelming feeling of paralysis.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: The introduction outlines the fundamental premise that narratives shape human experience and defines the paper's goal to explore world-making processes in two specific short story cycles.
2. The theory and methodology of world-making: This chapter proposes a tri-partite model for analyzing fictional worlds, categorized into endo-narrative, exo-narrative, and meta-narrative levels to examine their construction.
3. Narrative modes in James Joyce’s Dubliners: This section investigates Joyce’s use of realistic details combined with symbolic imagery to mirror the paralysis and stagnant atmosphere of early 20th-century Dublin.
4. Mary Russell Mitford’s Our Village as provincial fiction: This chapter analyzes Mitford’s work as a sentimental, Utopian, and conservative depiction of country life that prioritizes idealism over the political and economic realities of its time.
5. Conclusion: The conclusion contrasts the two authors' approaches, noting that while Joyce utilizes a Naturalist, somber framework, Mitford builds a nostalgic retreat, both ultimately highlighting how world-making relies on the interplay between text and reader.
Keywords
World-making, Dubliners, Our Village, James Joyce, Mary Russell Mitford, Narrative Theory, Short Story Cycle, Fictionality, Endo-narrative, Exo-narrative, Meta-narrative, Immersion, Provincial Fiction, Realism, Paralysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary objective of this academic paper?
The paper aims to investigate the "world-making" processes in James Joyce’s "Dubliners" and Mary Russell Mitford’s "Our Village" by analyzing how literary techniques construct credible fictional worlds.
Which theoretical framework does the author apply?
The author introduces a custom methodology dividing world-making into three planes: the endo-narrative, the exo-narrative, and the meta-narrative levels.
How does Joyce’s "Dubliners" create its specific story world?
Joyce uses a Naturalist approach, integrating precise geographical details with symbolic images to depict a city defined by stagnation and paralysis.
What defines Mitford’s "Our Village" in this analysis?
It is characterized as "provincial fiction," offering an idealistic, nostalgic retreat that intentionally ignores the harsh economic realities of industrializing Britain.
How is the "meta-narrative level" defined in the study?
This level focuses on the interaction between the reader and the narrator, emphasizing how emotions, reader participation, and the suspension of disbelief affect the perceived reality of the text.
Why are short story cycles chosen as research objects?
Because they are comprised of smaller, fragmented stories that allow for a unique "collaged" construction of reality, making them ideal for studying how authors build worlds.
How does the narrator's reliability differ between the two authors?
Joyce’s narrator creates a somber, diagnostic tone that remains consistent with his dark vision, whereas Mitford’s chatty, idealistic tone often undermines the realism of her depiction.
What role does the "language of flowers" play in Mitford’s work?
It acts as a symbolic device to emphasize innocence, purity, and the "superior" tranquility of village life compared to the chaotic city.
- Quote paper
- Ann-Kathrin Latter (Author), 2019, The creation of fictional worlds in the two short story cycles "Dubliners" and "Our Village", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/490063
