The Modern Novel: Evolution and Impact of Freudian Theories

The Modern Novel: Evolution and Impact

1 19 1 50 10 2 0 45 3 10 - 1 1 8 60. 4 40 0 5 20 1 The modern novel Compact Performer Shaping Ideas Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella, Margaret Layton @ 2021 ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

Shift from Victorian to Modern Novel

Causes of Transformation

1. The shift from the Victorian to the modern novel Caused by a gradual but substantial transformation of British society unrest and ferment characterising the years after WWI They forced novelists into a position of moral and psychological uncertainty. The novelist became a mediator between the solid and unquestioned values of the past and the confused present. The new concept of time and the new theory of the unconscious contributed to the birth of the modern novel. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

New Concept of Time

William James's Contribution

2. The new concept of time The American psychologist William James in The Principles of Psychology (1890) held that: 'Our mind records every single experience as a continuous flow of 'the already' into the ‘not yet'.' William James THE PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY Volume One Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

Henri Bergson's Distinction

2. The new concept of time The French Henri Bergson made a distinction between: Historical time, which is external, linear and measured by the hands of a clock. Psychological time, which is internal, subjective, measured by the relative emotional intensity of the moment. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

Theory of the Unconscious

Freud's Theories

3. The theory of the unconscious Freud's theories about the simultaneous existence of different levels of consciousness and unconsciousness. The whole personality of each human being is determined by the coexistence of the past in the present. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

Characteristics of the Modern Novel

Subjective Time Perception

4. The modern novel Time was perceived as subjective and internal > the distinction between past and present was meaningless in psychological terms. I · Absence of a well-structured plot with a chronological sequence of events. . It was not the passing of time that revealed the truth about characters. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

Novelists' Techniques

• rejected omniscient narration;
• understood it was impossible to reproduce the complexity of the human mind using traditional techniques;
• looked for new methods to portray the individual consciousness. Creation of a new narrative technique: the stream-of- consciousness technique or the interior monologue. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

Psychological Novelists

Key Figures and Themes

5. The psychological novelists D.H. Lawrence. · David Herbert Lawrence, who centred his work on the importance of natural impulses; · Edward Morgan Forster, whose recurrent themes are the complexity of human relationships and the analysis of the contrast between two different cultures. E.M. Forster. They were interested in the development of the character's mind and human relationships. The most important are: . Joseph Conrad, who tried to record the mystery of human experience; Joseph Conrad. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

Modernist Novelists

James Joyce and Virginia Woolf

• chose subjective narrative techniques;
• explored the mind of one or more characters;
• gave voice to their characters' thoughts. James Joyce. Virginia Woolf. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

The Interior Monologue

Definition and Distinction

7. The interior monologue Novelists adopted the interior monologue > to represent the unspoken activity of the mind before it is ordered into speech. Interior monologue -> the verbal expression of a psychic phenomenon Stream of consciousness the psychic phenomenon itself Virginia Woolf. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

Main Features of the Interior Monologue

Characteristics of the Technique

8. The main features of the interior monologue Year of ULYSSES ctable moda the visibi Jeast that if no ne org Signatur thought Seawack through am her my eyes. 5 nearthe Limits of the diaphane, If you san put five finger throug tisa gat Your eyes and see Modernist Versions Project | vorbimical-amp11

• Frequent lack of chronological order;
• the narrator may be present;
• formal logical order may be lost or lacking;
• the action takes place within the character's mind;
• speech may be immediate, without introductory expressions. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLI all thin theThe modern novel

Indirect Interior Monologue

Narrative Devices

9. Indirect interior monologue It is characterised by the following devices:

• the narrator is present within the narration -> the character's thoughts are presented both directly and by adding descriptions, appropriate comments and introductory phrases to guide the reader through the narration;
• the character stays fixed in space while his/her consciousness moves freely in time;
• everything happens in the present in the character's mind. 'inner time' preferred to 'external time'. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

Direct Interior Monologue with Two Levels of Narration

Literary Devices

10. Direct interior monologue with two levels of narration BLOOM Its main literary devices are:

• the narrator seems not to exist;
• the character's self is given directly;
• there are two levels of narration > a mixture of third-person narration, linked to an external time, and interior narration linked to the character's mind. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLIThe modern novel

Direct Interior Monologue with the Mind Level

Molly's Monologue in Ulysses

11. Direct interior monologue with the mind level In this kind of interior monologue the character's thoughts flow freely, not interrupted by external events. From the first to the last word, no external element interrupts Molly's monologue in the final chapter of Joyce's Ulysses. 'Yes because he never did a thing like that before as ask to get his breakfast in bed with a couple of eggs since the City Arms hotel when he used to be pretending to be laid up with a sick voice doing his highness to make himself interesting to that old faggot Mrs Riordan that he thought he had a great leg of and she never left us a farthing all for masses.' I

• The narrator disappears.
• Molly's thoughts are free to move backwards.
• Absence of punctuation. Compact Performer Shaping Ideas ZANICHELLI