Abstract
The use of mimetic and diegetic modes of storytelling has significant implications for the meaning and interpretation of Wilkie Collins’s (1824-1889) short story collection After Dark (1856). By using a framed narrative structure, Collins highlights the mimetic features of the stories in his collection. He creates a semi-factual atmosphere through dividing the story universe into two levels. On the first level, the discourse of the primary narrator and his wife emphasizes the mimetic nature of the six realistic stories recounted on the second level. Through following such a structure, the author seeks to create the illusion that the stories in the collection are biographical accounts. Verisimilitude, or lifelikeness, is therefore presented as the primary narrative property in After Dark. However, as this article mainly argues, the authorial discourse presented in Collins’s general preface to the collection—which, to use Gerard Genette’s term, is a paratext or threshold—dismantles the characters’ realistic pretentions on the two levels of the storyworld. More precisely, by calling the six narrated stories in the collection the offspring of his own imagination, Collins’s paratextual preface destroys the highlighted mimetic claims on the two levels in the storyworld.
References
- Baker, W. (2013). Wilkie Collins: Scholarship and criticism: Past, present, and future. Wilkie Collins Journal, 12. https://wilkiecollinssociety.org/wilkie-collins-scholarship-and-criticism-past-present-and-future
- Collins, W. (2019). After Dark. Global Grey.
- Eliot, T. S. (1919). Tradition and the individual talent. The Egoist, 6(4), 54-55. https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Eliot_Tradition_1919.pdf
- Duyfhuizen, B. (2005). Framed narrative. In D. Herman, M. Jahn, & M.L. Ryan (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory (pp. 186-188). Routledge.
- Genette, G. (1991). Introduction to the paratext (M. Maclean, Trans.). New Literary History 22(2), 261-272. https://www.jstor.org/stable/469037
- Genette, G. (1997). Paratexts: Thresholds of interpretation (J. Lewin, Trans.). Cambridge University Press.
- Herman, D. (2013). Storytelling and the sciences of mind. The MIT Press.
- Jacobsen, L.B. (2022). Paratext. In L.R. Gammelgaard, S. Iversen, L.B. Jacobsen, Phelan, J., Walsh, R., Zetterberg-Nielsen, H., & Zetterberg-Nielsen, S. (Eds.), Fictionality and literature: Core concepts revisited (pp. 141-160). The Ohio State University Press.
- McHale, B. (2005). Verisimilitude. In D. Herman, M. Jahn, & M.L. Ryan, (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory (pp. 186-188). Routledge.
- Potolsky, M. (2006). Mimesis. Routledge.
- Prince, Gerald. 2003). A dictionary of narratology. Revised Edition. University of Nebraska Press.
- Pykett, L. (2005). Oxford world’s classics: Wilkie Collins. Oxford University Press.
- Shen, Dan. (2005). “Diegesis.” In D. Herman, M. Jahn, and M. L. Ryan (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory (pp. 107-108). Routledge.
- Swinburne, A.C. (2005). In defence of Collins’ artistry. In N. Page (Ed.), Wilkie Collins: the critical heritage (pp. 265-270). Routledge.
- Taylor, J. B. (2006). Introduction. In J.B. Taylor, (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Wilkie Collins (pp. 1-6). Cambridge University Press.
- Trodd, A. (2006). The early writing. In J.B. Taylor (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Wilkie Collins (pp. 23-36). Cambridge University Press.
- Zetterberg Gjerlevsen, S. (2016). A novel History of fictionality. Narrative, 24(2), 174-189. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26405328
Abstract
Mimetik ve diegetik hikaye anlatımı modlarının kullanılması, Wilkie Collins’in (1824-1889) kısa öykü koleksiyonu After Dark’ın (1856) anlamı ve yorumu için önemli çıkarımlara sahiptir. Çerçeveli bir anlatı yapısı kullanarak, Collins derlemesindeki mimetik özelliği vurgulamaktadır.
Collins hikaye evrenini iki seviyeye bölerek yarı gerçekçi bir atmosfer yaratmaktadır. Birinci düzeyde, birincil anlatıcı ve eşinin söylemi, ikinci düzeyde anlatılan altı gerçekçi hikâyenin mimetik doğasını vurgulamaktadır. Böyle bir yapıyı ygyluyarak, yazar koleksiyondaki öykülerin biyografik anlatımlar olduğu yanılsamasını yaratmaya çalışıyor. Bu nedenle gerçeğe benzerlik veya gerçekçilik, After Dark’ta birincil anlatı özelliği olarak sunulur. Ancak, bu makalede esas olarak tartışıldığı üzere, Collins’in ana metine eşlik eden ve Gerard Genette’in tabiriyle yanmetin olarak adlandırılan derlemenin genel önsözünde sunduğu yazar söylemi, karakterlerin hikâye dünyasının iki düzeyine ilişkin gerçekçi iddialarını ortadan kaldırmaktadır.
Daha doğrusu, Collins’in yan metinsel önsözü, koleksiyonda anlatılan altı öyküyü kendi hayal gücünün ürünü olarak adlandırarak, öykü dünyasının iki düzeyine ilişkin vurgulanan mimetik iddiaları yok ediyor.
Keywords
mimetik hikaye anlatımı gerçeğe benzerlik çerçeveli anlatı yan metin Wilkie Collins After Dark
References
- Baker, W. (2013). Wilkie Collins: Scholarship and criticism: Past, present, and future. Wilkie Collins Journal, 12. https://wilkiecollinssociety.org/wilkie-collins-scholarship-and-criticism-past-present-and-future
- Collins, W. (2019). After Dark. Global Grey.
- Eliot, T. S. (1919). Tradition and the individual talent. The Egoist, 6(4), 54-55. https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~cavitch/pdf-library/Eliot_Tradition_1919.pdf
- Duyfhuizen, B. (2005). Framed narrative. In D. Herman, M. Jahn, & M.L. Ryan (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory (pp. 186-188). Routledge.
- Genette, G. (1991). Introduction to the paratext (M. Maclean, Trans.). New Literary History 22(2), 261-272. https://www.jstor.org/stable/469037
- Genette, G. (1997). Paratexts: Thresholds of interpretation (J. Lewin, Trans.). Cambridge University Press.
- Herman, D. (2013). Storytelling and the sciences of mind. The MIT Press.
- Jacobsen, L.B. (2022). Paratext. In L.R. Gammelgaard, S. Iversen, L.B. Jacobsen, Phelan, J., Walsh, R., Zetterberg-Nielsen, H., & Zetterberg-Nielsen, S. (Eds.), Fictionality and literature: Core concepts revisited (pp. 141-160). The Ohio State University Press.
- McHale, B. (2005). Verisimilitude. In D. Herman, M. Jahn, & M.L. Ryan, (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory (pp. 186-188). Routledge.
- Potolsky, M. (2006). Mimesis. Routledge.
- Prince, Gerald. 2003). A dictionary of narratology. Revised Edition. University of Nebraska Press.
- Pykett, L. (2005). Oxford world’s classics: Wilkie Collins. Oxford University Press.
- Shen, Dan. (2005). “Diegesis.” In D. Herman, M. Jahn, and M. L. Ryan (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory (pp. 107-108). Routledge.
- Swinburne, A.C. (2005). In defence of Collins’ artistry. In N. Page (Ed.), Wilkie Collins: the critical heritage (pp. 265-270). Routledge.
- Taylor, J. B. (2006). Introduction. In J.B. Taylor, (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Wilkie Collins (pp. 1-6). Cambridge University Press.
- Trodd, A. (2006). The early writing. In J.B. Taylor (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Wilkie Collins (pp. 23-36). Cambridge University Press.
- Zetterberg Gjerlevsen, S. (2016). A novel History of fictionality. Narrative, 24(2), 174-189. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26405328
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Literary Theory, Literary Studies (Other) |
| Journal Section | Articles |
| Authors | |
| Early Pub Date | December 28, 2023 |
| Publication Date | December 29, 2023 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2023 Volume: 17 Issue: 2 |
Çankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
Genel Yayın Yönetmeni, Öğretmenler Caddesi No.14, 06530, Balgat, Ankara.
İletişim | Communication: e-mail: mkirca@gmail.com | mkirca@cankaya.edu.tr
Website: http://cujhss.cankaya.edu.tr/about-the-journal/
Basım | Printed and bound by Teknoart Digital Ofset Reklamcılık Matbaacılık İth. İhr.
San. ve Tic. Ltd. Şti. Cevizlidere Mahallesi 1288 Sokak No.1/1 Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey
Çankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Dergisi ulusal ve uluslararası
araştırma ve derleme makalelerini yayımlayan uluslararası süreli bir yayındır. Yılda iki
kez yayımlanır (Haziran ve Aralık). Derginin yayın dili İngilizcedir.
Basım | Printed in Ankara
CUJHSS, ISSN 1309-6761
cujhss.cankaya.edu.tr