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Interpreting Narrative Techniques in Moby-Dick
Sedláček, Martin ; Procházka, Martin (advisor) ; Robbins, David Lee (referee)
Thesis Abstract The objective of this thesis is to map the narrative strategies of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. By applying different narrative theories to Moby-Dick, it explores and assesses mainly the narrative reliability (Wayne C. Booth) and the narrative situation (Franz K. Stanzel). Ishmael is generally considered to be an example of an unreliable narrator and in this thesis manifestations of his unreliability are evaluated. Special attention is devoted to the inconsistencies in the narrative (e.g. recurring disappearances of Ishmael, shifts in focus on some of the characters, complete disappearances of other characters) and their treatment, taking the general academic consensus into account. Such phenomena are discussed as deliberately and consciously incorporated into the narrative, rather than being a result of a precipitated writing process. Apart from the formal inconsistencies, the narrative also includes incongruities of thematic nature (e.g. questionable value-scheme according to Rimmon- Kenan). By employing Stanzel's narrative theory, the thesis discusses Ishmael's oscillation between "narrator" and "reflector," with special focus on the dramatic chapters. Using both of these conceptions, Moby-Dick is assessed from two different perspectives, hopefully shedding some light on the complex...
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Interpreting Narrative Techniques in Moby-Dick
Sedláček, Martin ; Procházka, Martin (advisor) ; Robbins, David Lee (referee)
Thesis Abstract The objective of this thesis is to map the narrative strategies of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. By applying different narrative theories to Moby-Dick, it explores and assesses mainly the narrative reliability (Wayne C. Booth) and the narrative situation (Franz K. Stanzel). Ishmael is generally considered to be an example of an unreliable narrator and in this thesis manifestations of his unreliability are evaluated. Special attention is devoted to the inconsistencies in the narrative (e.g. recurring disappearances of Ishmael, shifts in focus on some of the characters, complete disappearances of other characters) and their treatment, taking the general academic consensus into account. Such phenomena are discussed as deliberately and consciously incorporated into the narrative, rather than being a result of a precipitated writing process. Apart from the formal inconsistencies, the narrative also includes incongruities of thematic nature (e.g. questionable value-scheme according to Rimmon- Kenan). By employing Stanzel's narrative theory, the thesis discusses Ishmael's oscillation between "narrator" and "reflector," with special focus on the dramatic chapters. Using both of these conceptions, Moby-Dick is assessed from two different perspectives, hopefully shedding some light on the complex...
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