Journal of Literary Criticism

Journal of Literary Criticism

The Binary Functions of the First-Person Narrator

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Leila Rezaei
Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Persian Gulf University, Boushehr, Iran
10.22034/jlc.2024.428414.1608
Abstract
The first-person narrator should be considered a "narrator-character" who is simultaneously a narrator and an experiencing character. From a semiotic-semantic point of view, the first-person narrator is a 'becoming" subject narrating his/her own experience from the surrounding world. The identity of the first-person narrative depends on this binary function; however, sometimes it takes effort to balance them since occasionally the first-person narrator only acts as a narrator (like a third-person narrator). Reviewing the background of the narratologists' theories, such as Stanzel (1984) and Fludernik (2002), shows that despite recognising these binary functions, the existing challenges and the ways to keep the balance have yet to be studied so far.
The present study aims to develop the discussion of binary functions of the first-person narrator in a descriptive-analytical way by using the semiotics-semantics approach regarding "becoming" discourse to investigate the causes and the solutions regarding these binary functions. The statistical population of this research consists of nine novels: "The Blind Owl", "The School Principal", "The Year of Riot", "The Neighbors", "The Story of a City", "The Scorched Earth", "The Dog and the Long Winter", "I Turn Off the Lights" and "my bird". The result shows that in the "description" and "dialogue of characters", the role of experience is a severe challenge. In addition, the involvement of the narrator's mind in the narrative through referring to his/her feelings, thinking, judgment, interpretation, or speculation, along with methods such as "association" and "stream of consciousness", can be effective strategies to balance the binary functions.
Keywords
Narrative
First-person narrator
Structure
Binary Function
Becoming Discourse

Subjects

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Journal of Literary Criticism
Volume 8, Issue 16
December 2024
Pages 224-189

  • Receive Date 02 December 2023
  • Revise Date 29 January 2024
  • Accept Date 05 February 2024