Definition
Narratives Exam Review Format: Part A: Identify quotes and meaning, Part B: Write essays (this is 70%) Definitions: Chapter 1 & 2: Semiotics is the study of signs. The fundamental definition of a sign is that it is not any other sign (relations of difference are the basis of signs): in other words, we make sense of signs in relation to other signs. We recognize a sign because it is different from all other signs. But a sign also has two parts: a signifier and a signified. Each one of these parts can also become a sign in another set of relations. When we use signs, we do so by selections and combinations of terms (these terms rather than other ones, these terms in this order rather than in some other order). The choices of signs and the combination of signs in use are relations that coincide to produce signification (or meaning). Metaphor (do not use “vehicle” and “tenor” in practicing: they can be misleading when you are trying to grasp the meaning of a metaphor in semiotic terms: try to use “signifier” and “signified” and “relations” between signifiers instead to explain how the metaphor produces the meaning) Metonymy (“synecdoche” is only one kind of metonymy; try to practice by understanding that “metonymy” produces meaning relationally; using the term “synecdoche” will not always enable you to identify or understand a range of metonymies that occur syntagmatically) “Paradigms are the sets of relationships, on the level of either the signifier of the signified, between a sign and all the other elements in the system” Paradigmatic relations characterize the enabling conditions of language as a system. A text is paradigmatically constructed out of substitutions and selections – it works rather like a metaphor Syntagms, which position one sign along a chain of signs, as in a sentence. […] [‘[S]igns do not have to be directly adjacent to each other to be placed in syntagmatic relation. A pronoun, for instance [e.g., he, she, it], is a signifier which simply points elsewhere in the discourse for its signified, to a noun in close proximity that can serve as the pronoun’s antecedent. syntagmatic relations characterize the enabling conditions of language in use. And a text is syntagmatically constructed out of combinations and additions – it works rather like metonymy.
*** In other words, paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations work together simultaneously to produce signification (or what we more commonly refer to as “meaning”). Binary oppositions repeatedly pervade – circulate through – a text because of the differential field of meaning provided by a sign. One sign means something – is recognizable as a signifier – it refers not to something outside language but to something within language, its opposite, which refers to its opposite, and so on. Review: Semiotics Sign a sign is made up of two parts: a signifier and signifiedit is the way we interpret things (the way we make meaning) is something that can be interpreted as having a meaning, which is something other than itself, and which is therefore able to communicate information to the one interpreting or decoding the sign. Signifier this is the actual material of a sign “Stop=stop” The signifier is the form that the sign will take, whether it be a sound or image and the signified is the meaning that is conveyed. Signifiedthis is what I make of the sign “Stop means to come to a hault” The meaning or idea expressed by a sign, as distinct from the physical form in which it is expressed. Languethis is the actual language of a word parole (or discourse)this is how the language is placed A generalization of the concept of conversation within all modalities and contexts. Paradigmthis is the relationship between the words that make up the sign •
Syntagm Syntactics: Relations among signs in formal structures Pragmatics: Relation between signs and signusing agents Paradigmatic relations, whether that word is a verb, noun etc syntagmatic relationscertain order of organizing words phrases etc Relations of difference“stop means stop because it doesn’t mean go” Similarity
Placement“Please stop making that noise” I know they want me to not continue what I am doing because I am making noise Binary oppositionGo ? A concept developed by Strauss and Barthes whereby if you cannot experience the opposite of an emotion (eg. Sadness), you cannot feel the emotion itself. Paradigmatic opposition, syntagmatic opposition Metaphor as a rhetorical figure that produces signification based on relations of similarity or resemblance (do not use “vehicle” and “tenor” in practicing: they can be misleading when you are trying to grasp the meaning of a metaphor in semiotic terms: try to use “signifier” and “signified” and “relations between signifiers” instead to explain how the metaphor produces the meaning) Metonymy (“synecdoche” is only one kind of relation that produces metonymy, i.e., a relation between a part and a whole; try to practice metonymy as also producing signification by relations of contiguity and association) Paradigmatic metaphor; syntagmatic metaphor Paradigmatic metonymy; syntagmatic metonymy Chapter 3: Chapter 3 focussed on “the structures of narration at the level, or in the form, of story” understood as “the sequencing of events which can be paraphrased and analyzed” (Cohan and Shires 82). Like words understood semiotically (no word can signify in isolation from other words), events only come to signify in relation to other events and other features of narrative. To be able to paraphrase a sequence of events, we have to assume that events are signifiers that have (paraphrasable) signifieds, and in so doing, we temporarily suspend our awareness that the events we have paraphrased have been narrated to us. In other words, the narrating of events, or the telling of events, is not the same as the events ‘themselves’ or their sequencing: narration is a representation of the events in language, and as such, the narration must be segmented into components that produce (and sometimes frustrate) our ability to paraphrase (or to assign signifieds to) the events. Again, as with each chapter of Telling Stories, chapter 4 builds on previous semiotic and narratological terms and concepts, while introducing us to new terms specific to segmenting and analyzing components of narration. Definitions:
Sequence: contains at least two events, one to establish a narrative situation or proposition, and one to alter (or at least merely to differ from) that initial situation. Syntagmatic Sequence: places events in a sequence to organize signifying relations of addition and combination, thereby operating in a linguistic structure. Kernal Events: raise possibilities of succeeding or other events, they initiate, increase or conclude an uncertainty so they advance or outline a sequence of transformations [cannot be removed, reordered or replaced] Satellite Events: on the other hand, amplify or fill in the outline of a sequence by maintaining, retarding, or prolonging the kernel events they accompany or surround. [can be reordered and replacedtransition events] Enchanied: when the story syntagm places it back to back sucession with another event: this signifies time as a simple succession. when one event occurs after another they are in a linear syntagm chronological order Embedded: when a story inserts one event into another event, so that two events are occurring simultaneously [because she looked up, Irwin thinks she lied] Joined: if the story gives an event a plural function: so that it bears a relation to more then one event. [ Getting in a Car Accident, cause Stacey to be late, lose her job and for Robert to miss saying he loves her] Macrosctructure: a syntagmatic organization of numerous sets of sequences, each with its own relatively independent syntagmatic organization or microstructure Macrostructure: events set in macrostructures can be two things: addition of functions [kernel or satellitewhich means there is microstructure and from the microstructure there is more kernel and satellite events] combination of functions [enchaining, embedding, joining] You can tell if an event is embedded of joined because they may stand out as stressful in the story of events. •
What keeps a story going is the displacements of both the initial and the closing events
*the sequence is what sets the events in relation to each other Paradigmatic Sequence: replaces one event with another to organize signifying relations of selection and substitution thereby operating like a metaphor in a linguistic structure. [events are used to advance or amplify the sequence] Closure: recognizing the temporality of an event for one another, leading to the point of termination Serial Structures: organize several macrosequences, embedding or combining the final point of the sequence with the opening or middle points of another one in
order to defer the final point of closure. •
This structure stresses the importance of closure as a means of containing the movement of narrativity which the syntagmatic structure produces
•
The opening and closing of a story are paradigmatic still points of resemblance
•
What initiates a story is the placement of an event in a sequence to mark a beginning what ends a story is the replacement of the initial event by another one to mark an ending
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Events are organize by similarity to each other
•
Groupings of events are based on type, events of one kind as opposed to another, or location, events occurring at one setting as opposed to another, or on actors, events involving one actor as opposed to another
•
Binary opposition draws on the opposites in the story
The Function of Actors: Events need agency in order to be carried out: actors make this happen. A story places characters in relation to the sequence of events; the relation will decide the function the actor plays. Performance: is the subject of a story, it gives agency of action Object: is the goal or destination of that action The Sender: Initiates or establishes the event in the story The Receiver: Benefiting from or registering effects of the event The Opponent: Retarding or impeding the event by the opposing subject or competing with the subject for the object The Helper: Advancing or furthering the event by supporting or assisting the subject *these actors are mostly seen in folk or fairy talesclassic stories •
The function of one single character can switch depending on the event
•
The characters in a story can be analyzed on the basis of their performing: Singular Functions: when a character serves the same function repeatedly Changing Functions: when a character serves different function for different events Multiple Functions: when a character serves more than one function or an event Indeterminate Functions: when the function of a character is not apparent
or is revised in retrospect Traits: used to define characters, a narrative adjective, labeling a personal quality of a character as it persists over part or whole of the story. •
The traiting of a character paradigmatically compares them with other actors and therefore makes them individuals in the story.
•
A repetition of traits gives a character consistency
Story Structure: A story structure is important to the overall meaning and interpretation of a story. The genre, whether it is a bildungsroman, a romance, etc,. all helps to identify the following: identifies the cultural semiotics makes it publically intelligible social framework gender difference what binaries the story is arguing in relation to current or past culture issue Chapter 4: Temporality Narration occurs in time, events occur in time, but the timing of narration is seldom the same as the timing of the events themselves. “The differential relation between [narrational time and story time] can be analyzed in terms of order, frequency, and duration” (Gerard Genette’s terms, in Cohan and Shires 84). Temporality examined through order of events in story and in narration: tool to help us understand the effects of the timing of the telling of the story on how we understand the meaning of events of the story: the relation between the order of narrating the events and the order of events as a sequence: “Specific points of disparity between the temporal order of the story sequence and that of the narration are called anachronies” (Cohan and Shires 84). Anachronies can be either analeptic or proleptic, usually a mix of both, but with one or the other more prominent, usually analeptic, reaching back in time to narrate events up to the present moment of the narrative, though modernist narratives jump back and forth so much that it may be impossible to order the events; detective novels go back and forth too but the force of the hermeneutic code, and the reasons for much of the contents of the narrative, are for purposes of finding a solution to the crime, so the disparaties between narrational order and story order are usually clear enough to follow)
Temporality examined as Frequency of events and of their narration: tool to help us study how the relation between the number of times a specific event occurs in a story and the number of times it is narrated produces effects on our understanding: the singular event occurs once and is narrated once Example? the repeated event occurs once and is narrated more than once (i.e., repeated more than once at the level of narration) the iterative event occurs more than once but is narrated only once the pseudoiterative event which conflates singular and iterative frequencies (“Events are said to recur many times but they are narrated with the specificity of a single occurrence” [Cohan and Shires 86). Try to find examples of each from stories read thus far. Temporality examined as Duration: “measures the length of narrational time against the temporal span of the story” (Cohan and Shires 87). Duration can stress kernel events over satellite (when narrational time is greater than story time) or stress story over narration when story time is greater than narrational time (more satellite events than kernel events) Two common types of narrating duration: summary scene Summary takes less time to narrate than the events would take. Summary “condenses time in the narration so that it takes less than story time” (Cohan and Shires 87) (“diegetic,” the telling of events as narrative, which emphasizes narrational mediation) Scene “coordinates the duration of story and narrational time so that they appear equivalent” (“mimetic,” the telling of events as events, or imitation of events in telling, which has the effect of minimizing our awareness of how narration is mediating, filtering, our reception of the event. (Keep in mind that all events in narratives are narrated somehow or other because they are represented in language, they are not the events themselves) (Cohan and Shires 88). Other means of narrating duration are slowdown; pause; ellipsis (88 89) Try to find examples in stories already studied. Narrating Agency “The temporal order, frequency, and duration of events in a narration always display, even if only indirectly, a narrating agency, some medium of transmitting the story through telling.” E.g., the camera is the narrating agency in film; in prose, we have both a narrating agency and a narrating agent, because utterances in prose do not originate in a person but in the medium of language which is used
in particular ways by a narrating agent. For Cohan and Shires, agent and agency are not separable: jointly they identify “the position of telling inscribed in language use, that is, in discourse” (90). The narrator might be a character in a story (have an internal relation to the events), or might be an agent who is not part of the events at all, only telling them, or having an external relation to the events being narrated. NOTE: difference between “discourse” and “history” as theorized by Benveniste and explained as a tool by Cohan and Shires 93. Focalization refers to relations in narrative between the narrating agent (who narrates); the focalizer (who sees); and the focalized (what is being seen and thus narrated) (95) Discourse (note that this term has come up more than once in the textbook, and each time becomes more refined in its use) Chapter 5: Proairetic codeprovides the bases of events and sequences linearly and irreversibly; we can recognize A chronic sequence; when things don’t unfold in a linear way we reorganize them to make sense (we believe from a culture code that things will unfold in chronological order)the culture code we work on is the “time” codethings will progress to the finish line Semic codewhich provides the basis of character traits everything in the world has traits it’s the process by which we characterize events, people, the way we describe and recognize things Hermeneutic codewhich provides the basis of macrostructure linearly and irreversibly directed toward closuremakes you want to know why and find a solutioninterpreting Symbolic codewhich provides the basis of representation through reversible binary oppositionsthe basis of the signbinary can be refersible because they are arbitrary Reference codewhich provides the basis of seemingly extratextual referentiality. Note: the first three codes on this list (proairetic, semic, and hermeneutic) will be easier to “get” after reading chapters 3 and 4 of Cohan and Shires, where we will study events and characters as signs, as well as how time (or temporality) is encoded into textuality and narrative as well. Ideology: it is primarily evident through its effect. Ideas and beliefs which seem true or natural as the result of reasonable, commonsensical observations. A system in which the values and beliefs according which people live out their lives in the social structure they inhabit. It represents subjectivity as a state of continuous selfapprehensive of being an acting, thinking and feeling subject (an I) in order to subject the individual to meanings
that perpetuate the social structure. Chapter 6: Psychoanalytic theory offers a powerful explanation of the relation between narrative and subjectivity Freud, psychoanalysis asserts that every subject is split, divided between conscious and unconscious, and that this splitting occurs as a result of the subject’s entrance into the symbolic field of culture through the acquisition of language.
GirlThis short story is a kind of instruction manuel for how a girl should act. Metonymy is extremely apparent in this story. The entire manuel is referencing to what a girl should be like. All of the things that her mother is telling her to do, are associated with a girl and how she should act. One assumes it is her mother speaking because the narrator uses a matter-of fact and demanding tone. She is an authoritative figure and clearly takes control over the girl. All of the things are associated with a certain type of girl. Referring to the culture code, how the girl is referenced tells its own story. She is told in this quote to “…”. It would seem that because of these references, culturally one knows that a black slave must take care of the “whites” first and follow specific rules. The Doll’s House: This story is a tale of two poor girls who are unable to play or associate with the rich. Within this story, this comparison of rich to poor plays a large component- binary opposition. The Bernells say that the Kalvies are low social class, and this seems to establish that everyone does. The bernells then represent the highest of social class. There is also binary between the adults and the children- why do the children love the house and the adults hate it? There is metaphorical speech in the sense that the Kalvies look like dolls, and are out of place, where as the house is also out of place. The fact that even
the teacher had a special voice for them, and a special smile for the other children speaks to the discreet (or rather distinct) ways in which class consciousness is practised even by teachers themselves, in maintaining the social hierarchy. You could also take the lamp as a symbol for the working class; a class that is real and not done up like the red carpets and gold frignment that the older girls pay attention to. The lamp is what attracts Keyzia because she is young and inexperienced. The fact that Lil is going to be a servant, like her mother, means culturally the children take on the social status of the parents. One sees this through the semiotic code, meaning by the traits given to the girls, they are doomed to be poor as well. Dead Men’s Path: This story also plays on binary opposition; there is an opposition between the traditional tribes and the mondernity that Obi wishes to bring to the school. The path is metaphorical for life that lives on, and the flowers Obi plants are
metaphorical for modernity-at the end when they are trampled and die, Obi’s modern world is also destroyed. The metaphorical language helps to draw the parrllels between this binary opposition that is apparent. The path is also symbolic of the tribe and how they are being over run by modern euopean cultures. It is not a literal dead men’s path but rather the ideas and freedom of the tribes people are dead. Being told from an external anonymous narrator allows for the audience to draw on these clear binaries. The Son’s Veto: There is a binary of social classes apperent once again. Sophy is aware that she should marry mr. twycott, and that if she chooses a life with Sam it will not be a good one. The sequence of events is syntagmatically structured, each event slowly leading up to the final kernel event of her death. There is a sense of metonymy and the relationship between being upper class and educated. Sophy is referred to as unintelligent in a lot of times, and her son seems more powerful then her because of his language and educated backround. Randolph's refusal is
foreshadowed by the title of the story, "The Son's Veto", in which veto refers to the son's right to refuse his mother as he holds the position of authority and his masculinity is a direct representation of the common law and social interpretation that men are superior to women. The title and this point indicate that status, class and social perception play the single largest factor in shaping each character's motives and decisions. The Story of An Hour: The use of third-person omniscient narrative voice also keeps Mrs. Mallard more sympathetic and understandable. The narrator seems to be excusing her behavior and thought process, or at least providing reasoning for it. For example, look at this description, stated by the narrator, of how Mrs. Mallard cringes away from the approaching feeling of freedom. The narrating agent is directly involved in the story, however can only tell what they see from mrs. Mallard. That said, the fact that Mrs. Mallard has "heart trouble" (1) should be taken as more meaningful than just the idea that she's unhealthy. If that were true, she could have ulcers or be allergic to pineapples. But no. Of all the potential illnesses she could have, she has problems with her heart. The late nineteenth-century way this condition is described, as "heart trouble," only reinforces its symbolic meaning. Sure, it's a polite way of describing her condition, but it also reinforces the "trouble" Mrs. Mallard is having with her "heart" within her marriage.Having "heart trouble" makes it easier for her to dismiss the concept of love with the grand statement, "What did it matter!" (15). Even if Mrs. Mallard wasn't sick, she'd still have "heart trouble" of the emotional kind. If we look at the heart as a
symbol for the loss of love in her marriage, we can refer to the symbolic code. The events in "The Story of an Hour" happen quickly, and the author herself does not mince words in relaying them. Yet it seems like life can change drastically, and a person can change dramatically, in under an hour. Mrs. Mallard spends less than an hour processing the news that her husband has died. In doing so, she moves rapidly through her grief to arrive at a "dream" or "story" of what life by herself will be like. In less than an hour, she's gotten used to the idea of a whole different future – a future she's excited about, instead of a future that she dreads. But the work of a few seconds – seeing her husband alive and well – proves her wrong and blows up that new dream of a possible future path. It seems that this is an example of temporality summary duration- as if the narrator is making these events happen in less than hour, when in reality mrs. Mallard wouldn’t be able to overcome the death this quickly.
The Imperialist: There is a binary opposition in a lot of ways in this story: men vs women, public verse private sphere, upper class vs lower class and social binaries. Lorne is an example of someone who fits in the middle sphere. In this novel, the narrator plays both an involvement, an internal and an external focalizer. Macrosctructure: a syntagmatic organization of numerous sets of sequences, each with its own relatively independent syntagmatic organization or microstructure. In this story, Lorne, Advena, Mrs. And Mr. Murchinson all have their own story and decription happening within the grand scheme of things. **for the portion: know why each quote is significant, why is meaning produced through these tools?
Part 2: 6paragraphs: The Yellow Wallpaper:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses her short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" to
make determined statements about feminism and individuality. Gilman uses binary opposition between the narrator and her husband, to display her argument on feminism. The wallpaper acts as a metaphor for the woman’s individuality. Gilman demonstrates these two techniques by taking the reader through the terrors of one woman's sickness, her entire mental state characterized by her encounters with the wallpaper in her room. Much of this story is centered on eerie descriptions of the yellow wallpaper and the woman's obsessive interactions with it. It is important, though, to understand that although the plot is primarily based around her neurosis, the objective of the story is to deliver a completely unrelated message. Through the use of a repeated event of the narrator staring at the wallpaper, it is a tool to help us study how the relation between the number of times a specific event occurs in a story and the number of times it is narrated produces effects on our understanding. The reader has a chance to see in depth the mind of the narrator. Through this internal narrating agent, everything that is being focalized is inherently by the narrator. The binary opposition between male and female become more apperent through her responses and feelings.
It is immediately apparent in the story that the woman allows herself to be inferior to men, particularly her husband, John. Being a physician, he ahs special orders for her: To stay in bed, suppress her imagination, and most importantly to discontinue her writing. Though she feels better when she writes, and feels it may be beneficial, she does not say a word. "Personally I disagree with their ideas," she writes. "Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?" This statement, "What is one to do?" shows her lack of selfconfidence and feeling of inferiority. She speaks as though her opinions to do not count anyway, but she is very accepting of this. She belittles herself several more times throughout the story. "I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and her I am a comparative burden already" The woman is trying so hard to get better, and deep down she knows what she needs to do, but she is constantly being shut down by her husband, her brother, and her own personal insecurities. As a woman she holds less power to her own life than the men around her. This binary is clear. The woman's descriptions of the wallpaper seem to be metaphorical of the evolution of her illness and through the paper, she sees herself. The
wallpaper, when first introduced, sets the social environment between the woman and her illness. The paper is describes as being quote. Her description of the paper being "dull enough to confuse the eye" and "constantly irritating and provoking study" is alluding to her sense of inferiority and burden. The story is paradigmatically structured to draw these parallels both her sickeness and her inferiority to her husband are related, and the wall paper steps in as a metaphor to show this. It follows through in a sequence of events that build up to the final realization of this metaphor. John may be forcing her to repress her urges to write, act and do as she pleases, but as she fights this and finds strength through herself (the wallpaper), she begins breaking free. Finally, the woman completely lets herself go. She enjoys looking at and playing with the wallpaper and she no longer cares what anyone thinks. She totally and uninhibitedly gives in to herself and allows her feelings to be expressed. "Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. IT sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it" (171). The woman is doing as she wills and destroying that which limits her. One may argue that she has gone insane, and subsequently furthered her illness, but I believe Gilman's intention is to show her celebration of self. "I've got out at last," she says to John, "in spite of you and Jane. And I've pushed off most of the paper so you can't put me back"
*** In other words, paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations work together simultaneously to produce signification (or what we more commonly refer to as “meaning”). Binary oppositions repeatedly pervade – circulate through – a text because of the differential field of meaning provided by a sign. One sign means something – is recognizable as a signifier – it refers not to something outside language but to something within language, its opposite, which refers to its opposite, and so on. Review: Semiotics Sign a sign is made up of two parts: a signifier and signifiedit is the way we interpret things (the way we make meaning) is something that can be interpreted as having a meaning, which is something other than itself, and which is therefore able to communicate information to the one interpreting or decoding the sign. Signifier this is the actual material of a sign “Stop=stop” The signifier is the form that the sign will take, whether it be a sound or image and the signified is the meaning that is conveyed. Signifiedthis is what I make of the sign “Stop means to come to a hault” The meaning or idea expressed by a sign, as distinct from the physical form in which it is expressed. Languethis is the actual language of a word parole (or discourse)this is how the language is placed A generalization of the concept of conversation within all modalities and contexts. Paradigmthis is the relationship between the words that make up the sign •
Syntagm Syntactics: Relations among signs in formal structures Pragmatics: Relation between signs and signusing agents Paradigmatic relations, whether that word is a verb, noun etc syntagmatic relationscertain order of organizing words phrases etc Relations of difference“stop means stop because it doesn’t mean go” Similarity
Placement“Please stop making that noise” I know they want me to not continue what I am doing because I am making noise Binary oppositionGo ? A concept developed by Strauss and Barthes whereby if you cannot experience the opposite of an emotion (eg. Sadness), you cannot feel the emotion itself. Paradigmatic opposition, syntagmatic opposition Metaphor as a rhetorical figure that produces signification based on relations of similarity or resemblance (do not use “vehicle” and “tenor” in practicing: they can be misleading when you are trying to grasp the meaning of a metaphor in semiotic terms: try to use “signifier” and “signified” and “relations between signifiers” instead to explain how the metaphor produces the meaning) Metonymy (“synecdoche” is only one kind of relation that produces metonymy, i.e., a relation between a part and a whole; try to practice metonymy as also producing signification by relations of contiguity and association) Paradigmatic metaphor; syntagmatic metaphor Paradigmatic metonymy; syntagmatic metonymy Chapter 3: Chapter 3 focussed on “the structures of narration at the level, or in the form, of story” understood as “the sequencing of events which can be paraphrased and analyzed” (Cohan and Shires 82). Like words understood semiotically (no word can signify in isolation from other words), events only come to signify in relation to other events and other features of narrative. To be able to paraphrase a sequence of events, we have to assume that events are signifiers that have (paraphrasable) signifieds, and in so doing, we temporarily suspend our awareness that the events we have paraphrased have been narrated to us. In other words, the narrating of events, or the telling of events, is not the same as the events ‘themselves’ or their sequencing: narration is a representation of the events in language, and as such, the narration must be segmented into components that produce (and sometimes frustrate) our ability to paraphrase (or to assign signifieds to) the events. Again, as with each chapter of Telling Stories, chapter 4 builds on previous semiotic and narratological terms and concepts, while introducing us to new terms specific to segmenting and analyzing components of narration. Definitions:
Sequence: contains at least two events, one to establish a narrative situation or proposition, and one to alter (or at least merely to differ from) that initial situation. Syntagmatic Sequence: places events in a sequence to organize signifying relations of addition and combination, thereby operating in a linguistic structure. Kernal Events: raise possibilities of succeeding or other events, they initiate, increase or conclude an uncertainty so they advance or outline a sequence of transformations [cannot be removed, reordered or replaced] Satellite Events: on the other hand, amplify or fill in the outline of a sequence by maintaining, retarding, or prolonging the kernel events they accompany or surround. [can be reordered and replacedtransition events] Enchanied: when the story syntagm places it back to back sucession with another event: this signifies time as a simple succession. when one event occurs after another they are in a linear syntagm chronological order Embedded: when a story inserts one event into another event, so that two events are occurring simultaneously [because she looked up, Irwin thinks she lied] Joined: if the story gives an event a plural function: so that it bears a relation to more then one event. [ Getting in a Car Accident, cause Stacey to be late, lose her job and for Robert to miss saying he loves her] Macrosctructure: a syntagmatic organization of numerous sets of sequences, each with its own relatively independent syntagmatic organization or microstructure Macrostructure: events set in macrostructures can be two things: addition of functions [kernel or satellitewhich means there is microstructure and from the microstructure there is more kernel and satellite events] combination of functions [enchaining, embedding, joining] You can tell if an event is embedded of joined because they may stand out as stressful in the story of events. •
What keeps a story going is the displacements of both the initial and the closing events
*the sequence is what sets the events in relation to each other Paradigmatic Sequence: replaces one event with another to organize signifying relations of selection and substitution thereby operating like a metaphor in a linguistic structure. [events are used to advance or amplify the sequence] Closure: recognizing the temporality of an event for one another, leading to the point of termination Serial Structures: organize several macrosequences, embedding or combining the final point of the sequence with the opening or middle points of another one in
order to defer the final point of closure. •
This structure stresses the importance of closure as a means of containing the movement of narrativity which the syntagmatic structure produces
•
The opening and closing of a story are paradigmatic still points of resemblance
•
What initiates a story is the placement of an event in a sequence to mark a beginning what ends a story is the replacement of the initial event by another one to mark an ending
•
Events are organize by similarity to each other
•
Groupings of events are based on type, events of one kind as opposed to another, or location, events occurring at one setting as opposed to another, or on actors, events involving one actor as opposed to another
•
Binary opposition draws on the opposites in the story
The Function of Actors: Events need agency in order to be carried out: actors make this happen. A story places characters in relation to the sequence of events; the relation will decide the function the actor plays. Performance: is the subject of a story, it gives agency of action Object: is the goal or destination of that action The Sender: Initiates or establishes the event in the story The Receiver: Benefiting from or registering effects of the event The Opponent: Retarding or impeding the event by the opposing subject or competing with the subject for the object The Helper: Advancing or furthering the event by supporting or assisting the subject *these actors are mostly seen in folk or fairy talesclassic stories •
The function of one single character can switch depending on the event
•
The characters in a story can be analyzed on the basis of their performing: Singular Functions: when a character serves the same function repeatedly Changing Functions: when a character serves different function for different events Multiple Functions: when a character serves more than one function or an event Indeterminate Functions: when the function of a character is not apparent
or is revised in retrospect Traits: used to define characters, a narrative adjective, labeling a personal quality of a character as it persists over part or whole of the story. •
The traiting of a character paradigmatically compares them with other actors and therefore makes them individuals in the story.
•
A repetition of traits gives a character consistency
Story Structure: A story structure is important to the overall meaning and interpretation of a story. The genre, whether it is a bildungsroman, a romance, etc,. all helps to identify the following: identifies the cultural semiotics makes it publically intelligible social framework gender difference what binaries the story is arguing in relation to current or past culture issue Chapter 4: Temporality Narration occurs in time, events occur in time, but the timing of narration is seldom the same as the timing of the events themselves. “The differential relation between [narrational time and story time] can be analyzed in terms of order, frequency, and duration” (Gerard Genette’s terms, in Cohan and Shires 84). Temporality examined through order of events in story and in narration: tool to help us understand the effects of the timing of the telling of the story on how we understand the meaning of events of the story: the relation between the order of narrating the events and the order of events as a sequence: “Specific points of disparity between the temporal order of the story sequence and that of the narration are called anachronies” (Cohan and Shires 84). Anachronies can be either analeptic or proleptic, usually a mix of both, but with one or the other more prominent, usually analeptic, reaching back in time to narrate events up to the present moment of the narrative, though modernist narratives jump back and forth so much that it may be impossible to order the events; detective novels go back and forth too but the force of the hermeneutic code, and the reasons for much of the contents of the narrative, are for purposes of finding a solution to the crime, so the disparaties between narrational order and story order are usually clear enough to follow)
Temporality examined as Frequency of events and of their narration: tool to help us study how the relation between the number of times a specific event occurs in a story and the number of times it is narrated produces effects on our understanding: the singular event occurs once and is narrated once Example? the repeated event occurs once and is narrated more than once (i.e., repeated more than once at the level of narration) the iterative event occurs more than once but is narrated only once the pseudoiterative event which conflates singular and iterative frequencies (“Events are said to recur many times but they are narrated with the specificity of a single occurrence” [Cohan and Shires 86). Try to find examples of each from stories read thus far. Temporality examined as Duration: “measures the length of narrational time against the temporal span of the story” (Cohan and Shires 87). Duration can stress kernel events over satellite (when narrational time is greater than story time) or stress story over narration when story time is greater than narrational time (more satellite events than kernel events) Two common types of narrating duration: summary scene Summary takes less time to narrate than the events would take. Summary “condenses time in the narration so that it takes less than story time” (Cohan and Shires 87) (“diegetic,” the telling of events as narrative, which emphasizes narrational mediation) Scene “coordinates the duration of story and narrational time so that they appear equivalent” (“mimetic,” the telling of events as events, or imitation of events in telling, which has the effect of minimizing our awareness of how narration is mediating, filtering, our reception of the event. (Keep in mind that all events in narratives are narrated somehow or other because they are represented in language, they are not the events themselves) (Cohan and Shires 88). Other means of narrating duration are slowdown; pause; ellipsis (88 89) Try to find examples in stories already studied. Narrating Agency “The temporal order, frequency, and duration of events in a narration always display, even if only indirectly, a narrating agency, some medium of transmitting the story through telling.” E.g., the camera is the narrating agency in film; in prose, we have both a narrating agency and a narrating agent, because utterances in prose do not originate in a person but in the medium of language which is used
in particular ways by a narrating agent. For Cohan and Shires, agent and agency are not separable: jointly they identify “the position of telling inscribed in language use, that is, in discourse” (90). The narrator might be a character in a story (have an internal relation to the events), or might be an agent who is not part of the events at all, only telling them, or having an external relation to the events being narrated. NOTE: difference between “discourse” and “history” as theorized by Benveniste and explained as a tool by Cohan and Shires 93. Focalization refers to relations in narrative between the narrating agent (who narrates); the focalizer (who sees); and the focalized (what is being seen and thus narrated) (95) Discourse (note that this term has come up more than once in the textbook, and each time becomes more refined in its use) Chapter 5: Proairetic codeprovides the bases of events and sequences linearly and irreversibly; we can recognize A chronic sequence; when things don’t unfold in a linear way we reorganize them to make sense (we believe from a culture code that things will unfold in chronological order)the culture code we work on is the “time” codethings will progress to the finish line Semic codewhich provides the basis of character traits everything in the world has traits it’s the process by which we characterize events, people, the way we describe and recognize things Hermeneutic codewhich provides the basis of macrostructure linearly and irreversibly directed toward closuremakes you want to know why and find a solutioninterpreting Symbolic codewhich provides the basis of representation through reversible binary oppositionsthe basis of the signbinary can be refersible because they are arbitrary Reference codewhich provides the basis of seemingly extratextual referentiality. Note: the first three codes on this list (proairetic, semic, and hermeneutic) will be easier to “get” after reading chapters 3 and 4 of Cohan and Shires, where we will study events and characters as signs, as well as how time (or temporality) is encoded into textuality and narrative as well. Ideology: it is primarily evident through its effect. Ideas and beliefs which seem true or natural as the result of reasonable, commonsensical observations. A system in which the values and beliefs according which people live out their lives in the social structure they inhabit. It represents subjectivity as a state of continuous selfapprehensive of being an acting, thinking and feeling subject (an I) in order to subject the individual to meanings
that perpetuate the social structure. Chapter 6: Psychoanalytic theory offers a powerful explanation of the relation between narrative and subjectivity Freud, psychoanalysis asserts that every subject is split, divided between conscious and unconscious, and that this splitting occurs as a result of the subject’s entrance into the symbolic field of culture through the acquisition of language.
GirlThis short story is a kind of instruction manuel for how a girl should act. Metonymy is extremely apparent in this story. The entire manuel is referencing to what a girl should be like. All of the things that her mother is telling her to do, are associated with a girl and how she should act. One assumes it is her mother speaking because the narrator uses a matter-of fact and demanding tone. She is an authoritative figure and clearly takes control over the girl. All of the things are associated with a certain type of girl. Referring to the culture code, how the girl is referenced tells its own story. She is told in this quote to “…”. It would seem that because of these references, culturally one knows that a black slave must take care of the “whites” first and follow specific rules. The Doll’s House: This story is a tale of two poor girls who are unable to play or associate with the rich. Within this story, this comparison of rich to poor plays a large component- binary opposition. The Bernells say that the Kalvies are low social class, and this seems to establish that everyone does. The bernells then represent the highest of social class. There is also binary between the adults and the children- why do the children love the house and the adults hate it? There is metaphorical speech in the sense that the Kalvies look like dolls, and are out of place, where as the house is also out of place. The fact that even
the teacher had a special voice for them, and a special smile for the other children speaks to the discreet (or rather distinct) ways in which class consciousness is practised even by teachers themselves, in maintaining the social hierarchy. You could also take the lamp as a symbol for the working class; a class that is real and not done up like the red carpets and gold frignment that the older girls pay attention to. The lamp is what attracts Keyzia because she is young and inexperienced. The fact that Lil is going to be a servant, like her mother, means culturally the children take on the social status of the parents. One sees this through the semiotic code, meaning by the traits given to the girls, they are doomed to be poor as well. Dead Men’s Path: This story also plays on binary opposition; there is an opposition between the traditional tribes and the mondernity that Obi wishes to bring to the school. The path is metaphorical for life that lives on, and the flowers Obi plants are
metaphorical for modernity-at the end when they are trampled and die, Obi’s modern world is also destroyed. The metaphorical language helps to draw the parrllels between this binary opposition that is apparent. The path is also symbolic of the tribe and how they are being over run by modern euopean cultures. It is not a literal dead men’s path but rather the ideas and freedom of the tribes people are dead. Being told from an external anonymous narrator allows for the audience to draw on these clear binaries. The Son’s Veto: There is a binary of social classes apperent once again. Sophy is aware that she should marry mr. twycott, and that if she chooses a life with Sam it will not be a good one. The sequence of events is syntagmatically structured, each event slowly leading up to the final kernel event of her death. There is a sense of metonymy and the relationship between being upper class and educated. Sophy is referred to as unintelligent in a lot of times, and her son seems more powerful then her because of his language and educated backround. Randolph's refusal is
foreshadowed by the title of the story, "The Son's Veto", in which veto refers to the son's right to refuse his mother as he holds the position of authority and his masculinity is a direct representation of the common law and social interpretation that men are superior to women. The title and this point indicate that status, class and social perception play the single largest factor in shaping each character's motives and decisions. The Story of An Hour: The use of third-person omniscient narrative voice also keeps Mrs. Mallard more sympathetic and understandable. The narrator seems to be excusing her behavior and thought process, or at least providing reasoning for it. For example, look at this description, stated by the narrator, of how Mrs. Mallard cringes away from the approaching feeling of freedom. The narrating agent is directly involved in the story, however can only tell what they see from mrs. Mallard. That said, the fact that Mrs. Mallard has "heart trouble" (1) should be taken as more meaningful than just the idea that she's unhealthy. If that were true, she could have ulcers or be allergic to pineapples. But no. Of all the potential illnesses she could have, she has problems with her heart. The late nineteenth-century way this condition is described, as "heart trouble," only reinforces its symbolic meaning. Sure, it's a polite way of describing her condition, but it also reinforces the "trouble" Mrs. Mallard is having with her "heart" within her marriage.Having "heart trouble" makes it easier for her to dismiss the concept of love with the grand statement, "What did it matter!" (15). Even if Mrs. Mallard wasn't sick, she'd still have "heart trouble" of the emotional kind. If we look at the heart as a
symbol for the loss of love in her marriage, we can refer to the symbolic code. The events in "The Story of an Hour" happen quickly, and the author herself does not mince words in relaying them. Yet it seems like life can change drastically, and a person can change dramatically, in under an hour. Mrs. Mallard spends less than an hour processing the news that her husband has died. In doing so, she moves rapidly through her grief to arrive at a "dream" or "story" of what life by herself will be like. In less than an hour, she's gotten used to the idea of a whole different future – a future she's excited about, instead of a future that she dreads. But the work of a few seconds – seeing her husband alive and well – proves her wrong and blows up that new dream of a possible future path. It seems that this is an example of temporality summary duration- as if the narrator is making these events happen in less than hour, when in reality mrs. Mallard wouldn’t be able to overcome the death this quickly.
The Imperialist: There is a binary opposition in a lot of ways in this story: men vs women, public verse private sphere, upper class vs lower class and social binaries. Lorne is an example of someone who fits in the middle sphere. In this novel, the narrator plays both an involvement, an internal and an external focalizer. Macrosctructure: a syntagmatic organization of numerous sets of sequences, each with its own relatively independent syntagmatic organization or microstructure. In this story, Lorne, Advena, Mrs. And Mr. Murchinson all have their own story and decription happening within the grand scheme of things. **for the portion: know why each quote is significant, why is meaning produced through these tools?
Part 2: 6paragraphs: The Yellow Wallpaper:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman uses her short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" to
make determined statements about feminism and individuality. Gilman uses binary opposition between the narrator and her husband, to display her argument on feminism. The wallpaper acts as a metaphor for the woman’s individuality. Gilman demonstrates these two techniques by taking the reader through the terrors of one woman's sickness, her entire mental state characterized by her encounters with the wallpaper in her room. Much of this story is centered on eerie descriptions of the yellow wallpaper and the woman's obsessive interactions with it. It is important, though, to understand that although the plot is primarily based around her neurosis, the objective of the story is to deliver a completely unrelated message. Through the use of a repeated event of the narrator staring at the wallpaper, it is a tool to help us study how the relation between the number of times a specific event occurs in a story and the number of times it is narrated produces effects on our understanding. The reader has a chance to see in depth the mind of the narrator. Through this internal narrating agent, everything that is being focalized is inherently by the narrator. The binary opposition between male and female become more apperent through her responses and feelings.
It is immediately apparent in the story that the woman allows herself to be inferior to men, particularly her husband, John. Being a physician, he ahs special orders for her: To stay in bed, suppress her imagination, and most importantly to discontinue her writing. Though she feels better when she writes, and feels it may be beneficial, she does not say a word. "Personally I disagree with their ideas," she writes. "Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?" This statement, "What is one to do?" shows her lack of selfconfidence and feeling of inferiority. She speaks as though her opinions to do not count anyway, but she is very accepting of this. She belittles herself several more times throughout the story. "I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and her I am a comparative burden already" The woman is trying so hard to get better, and deep down she knows what she needs to do, but she is constantly being shut down by her husband, her brother, and her own personal insecurities. As a woman she holds less power to her own life than the men around her. This binary is clear. The woman's descriptions of the wallpaper seem to be metaphorical of the evolution of her illness and through the paper, she sees herself. The
wallpaper, when first introduced, sets the social environment between the woman and her illness. The paper is describes as being quote. Her description of the paper being "dull enough to confuse the eye" and "constantly irritating and provoking study" is alluding to her sense of inferiority and burden. The story is paradigmatically structured to draw these parallels both her sickeness and her inferiority to her husband are related, and the wall paper steps in as a metaphor to show this. It follows through in a sequence of events that build up to the final realization of this metaphor. John may be forcing her to repress her urges to write, act and do as she pleases, but as she fights this and finds strength through herself (the wallpaper), she begins breaking free. Finally, the woman completely lets herself go. She enjoys looking at and playing with the wallpaper and she no longer cares what anyone thinks. She totally and uninhibitedly gives in to herself and allows her feelings to be expressed. "Then I peeled off all the paper I could reach standing on the floor. IT sticks horribly and the pattern just enjoys it" (171). The woman is doing as she wills and destroying that which limits her. One may argue that she has gone insane, and subsequently furthered her illness, but I believe Gilman's intention is to show her celebration of self. "I've got out at last," she says to John, "in spite of you and Jane. And I've pushed off most of the paper so you can't put me back"
