Katherine Mansfield is a genius among the writers of the early 20thcentury and her work should not only be paid particular attention due to her credit for feminist literature; her work paved a way for all aspects of contemporary writing. The first ‘innovation’ she introduced was her choice of narrative form: the short story. It was not that the short story became her invention, but writing novels was still more fashionable, at least among Anglo-Saxon authors (Ganzmann 1985, 1-3). Yet, it is not purely by reason of her motivation to leave Victorian traditions behind that she preferred this form. Mansfield was destined to live a short life, thus, it fell to her lot to write short stories.1Fortunately, even “Prelude”, intended to become a novel entitled “The Aloe”, turned out to be a short story. Her will to modernize made her surpass ‘old-fashioned’ conventions and experiment with points of view through revising “The Aloe”, until she found a style that became characteristically her own. She managed to enable the readers of her stories to enter into a kind of personal relationship with the characters of her writings.
This assignment shall investigate the development from “The Aloe” as an “auktorial” narrative to “Prelude” being more “personal”. First, it provides a brief overview of the story’s textual genesis. Afterwards, we shall have a close look at Mansfield’s point-of-view-technique: what were the circumstances for her experimenting? What is distinctive about Mansfield’s style and what are the ‘side effects’? Here, Mansfield’s “glimpses” shall be devoted an extra chapter, since these hold a special position in the improvement of Mansfield’s method. As a last point, we want to compare “Prelude” with its original version “The Aloe” to demonstrate the progression.
Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. TEXTUAL GENESIS
3.POINT OF VIEW: FROM “AUKTORIAL” TO “PERSONAL”
3.1.MANSFIELD’S INNOVATION
3.2.MULTIPERSONAL VIEW
3.3.FREE INDIRECT DISCOURSE AND CONTAMINATION
4.”EPIPHANY” AND “GLIMPSES”
5.”THE ALOE” VS. “PRELUDE”
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this work is to analyze the evolution of Katherine Mansfield's narrative technique, specifically investigating the transition from the more traditional "auktorial" (authorial) style used in her earlier draft "The Aloe" to the innovative, "personal" narrative structure achieved in "Prelude."
- Analysis of textual genesis and biographical influences on Mansfield's writing process.
- Examination of the "multipersonal view" as a tool for subjective narration.
- Exploration of free indirect discourse and narrative contamination.
- Study of the concept of "Epiphany" and "glimpses" in modernist short fiction.
- Comparative analysis between the revisions of "The Aloe" and the final version of "Prelude."
Excerpt from the Book
3.2.Multipersonal View
When writing “The Aloe” Mansfield was emotionally still too occupied with Leslie’s death and was not able to keep the distance necessary to narrating her story. She was still in a phase of experimenting with narrating perspectives to find her own style, and her aim was to tell the story through the eyes of the characters, which made it essential for her to find a technique where the narrator was ‘invisible’, pushed into the background. The task was to make the narration from the narrator’s part as objective as possible in the sense that own comments (like it is the case in an auctorial situation) were avoided, with the intention that the characters themselves became the ‘narrators’ of the plot. For this Mansfield invented the so-called “multipersonal view” (Rohrberger 1977, 89) which “[...] [extends] the viewpoint from a single character to a group.” (89); the perspective shifts abruptly from one character to another providing intimate knowledge of how the concerned person recognizes the environment. The reader is now able to slip into the consciousness of each of them, directly recording their subjective views.
Summary of Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION: Outlines the significance of Katherine Mansfield in early 20th-century literature and defines the scope of investigating her transition from "auktorial" to "personal" narrative styles.
2. TEXTUAL GENESIS: Discusses the biographical and emotional background of the writing process, particularly the influence of her brother's death and her transition from the original "The Aloe" manuscript.
3.POINT OF VIEW: FROM “AUKTORIAL” TO “PERSONAL”: Explores Mansfield’s departure from Victorian novel traditions toward modernist short story structures through specific narratological techniques.
3.1.MANSFIELD’S INNOVATION: Details how Mansfield broke with Victorian plot-based storytelling to emphasize inner emotions and individual consciousness.
3.2.MULTIPERSONAL VIEW: Explains how shifting perspectives among characters allows the narrator to become "invisible" and creates a more intimate reader connection.
3.3.FREE INDIRECT DISCOURSE AND CONTAMINATION: Examines how the narrator adopts the characters' language and thoughts to achieve objectivity while maintaining subjective closeness.
4.”EPIPHANY” AND “GLIMPSES”: Analyzes how mundane moments serve as revelations of deeper truths within Mansfield’s characters.
5.”THE ALOE” VS. “PRELUDE”: Provides a comparative analysis of textual revisions to demonstrate how small modifications in phrasing and punctuation significantly enhanced the narrative's objectivity.
Keywords
Katherine Mansfield, Prelude, The Aloe, Modernism, Narrative Structure, Multipersonal View, Short Story, Epiphany, Glimpses, Free Indirect Discourse, Contamination, Victorian Tradition, Subjectivity, Literary Evolution, Textual Genesis
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this study?
This study examines the evolution of Katherine Mansfield’s narrative style, specifically how she transformed her work from a traditional "auktorial" narrative in "The Aloe" into the highly subjective and innovative "personal" narrative found in "Prelude."
Which thematic areas does the author address?
The paper covers the textual genesis of the stories, Mansfield’s narrative techniques like the "multipersonal view," the role of the narrator, and the development of modern literary devices like "epiphanies" and "glimpses."
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to demonstrate the progression in Mansfield's writing, showing how her modifications helped her bridge the gap between Victorian traditions and Modernism.
What research methods are employed?
The research utilizes literary analysis and comparative textual criticism, looking specifically at narratology, point-of-view theory, and specific manuscript comparisons between two iterations of the same story.
What does the main body cover?
The main body breaks down Mansfield’s technical innovations, including the use of shifting perspectives, the "invisible" narrator, the function of free indirect discourse, and the significance of modifying punctuation and phrasing.
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include Modernism, Multipersonal View, Narrative Structure, Subjectivity, and Free Indirect Discourse.
How does the "multipersonal view" function in "Prelude"?
It allows the narrative focus to shift abruptly between characters, providing the reader with direct access to multiple subjective consciousnesses while keeping the narrator in the background.
Why was the transition from "The Aloe" to "Prelude" significant?
It represents Mansfield’s success in moving away from an explanatory, authorial narrator toward a style where the characters' experiences are presented objectively, enhancing the reader's illusion of direct access to the characters' minds.
- Quote paper
- Nadine Scherny (Author), 2003, Mansfield's "Prelude" to a new era: On the development of a narrative structure, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/61681
