S. Manina

Kuban State University of Technology, Russia

The First-Person Narrator In The Literary Text

Narrative theory is currently enjoying a major burgeoning of interest throughout the world. Narrative theorists study what is distinctive about narrative, i.e. how it is different from other kinds of discourse, such as lyric poems, arguments, lists, descriptions, statistical analyses and how accounts of what happened to particular people in particular circumstances with particular consequences can be at once so common and so powerful. And a key concern is whether narrative as a way of thinking about or explaining human experience contrasts with scientific modes of explanation that characterize phenomena as instances of general covering laws. Narrative theorists study how stories help people make sense of the world, while also

studying how people make sense of stories.
Narrative is a basic human activity. "There are many different approaches to narrating. A narrator can remain mostly in the background and simply relate the story to his readers or listeners, without any commentary of other interruptions, or he or she can narrate the story through his or her own eyes, using the first person singular and thus creating an intensely personal atmosphere and letting the audience experience the adventures almost first-hand" [4: 5]. However, sometimes the narrator can become actively involved into the tale, but without actually being a part of it. He/she adds his/her own thoughts and opinions to the story, speaks to the readers himself/herself and actively guides them through his/her story.

The present work focuses on the first-person narrative type. The choice of narratorial voice affects many subsequent decisions about the development of the story, and the choice of techniques. The same story, told with different kinds of narrators, can have very different effects.

According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary "a narrative is a spoken or written account of connected events in order of happening" [5: 904 – 905]. A narrative is a story that is created in a constructive format (as a work of writing, speech, poetry, prose, pictures, song, motion pictures, video games, theatre or dance) that describes a sequence of fictional or non-fictional events. It derives from the Latin verb narrare, which means "to recount" and is related to the adjective gnarus, meaning "knowing" or "skilled". The word "story" may be used as a synonym of "narrative", but can also be used to refer to the sequence of events described in a narrative. A narrative can also be told by a character within a larger narrative. An important part of narration is the narrative mode, the set of methods used to communicate the narrative through a process called narration. Along with exposition, argumentation and description, narration, broadly defined, is one of four rhetorical modes of discourse. More narrowly defined, it is the fiction-writing mode whereby the narrator communicates directly to the reader [1: 38 – 39].

A narrator is, within any story (literary work, film, play, verbal account, etc.), the entity that tells the story to the audience. The narrator (or the archaic female equivalent "narratress") is one of three entities responsible for story-telling of any kind. The others are the author  and the audience. An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. [2: 98 – 100].
The author and the audience both inhabit the real world. It is the author's function to create the universe, people, and events within the story. It is the audience's function to understand and interpret the story. The narrator exists within the world of the story, although in non-fiction the narrator and the author can share the same persona, since the real world and the world of the story may be the same and present it in a way the audience can comprehend.
A narrator may tell the story from his own point of view as a fictive entity or from the point of view of one of the characters in the story. A writer's choice of narrator is crucial for the way a work of fiction is perceived by the reader. Generally, a first-person narrator brings greater focus on the feelings, opinions, and perceptions of a particular character in a story, and on how that character views the world and the views of other characters. If the writer's intention is to get inside the world of a character, then it is a good choice. In literature an unreliable narrator is a first-person narrator, the credibility of whose point of view is seriously compromised, possibly by psychological instability, or a powerful bias, or else simply by a lack of knowledge. An unreliable narrator is a character who may be giving an imperfect or incorrect account, either consciously or unconsciously. This can be due to that character's biases, ulterior motives, psychological instability, youth, or a limited or second-hand knowledge of the events. The author in these cases must give the reader information the narrator does not intend to present and the reader may only deduce the truth. This process creates a tension that is a central force behind the power of first person narratives, and provides the only unbiased clues about the character of the narrator. To some extent all narrators are unreliable. Unreliable narrators aren't limited to fiction. Memoirs, autobiographies and autobiographical fiction have the author as narrator and character. Sometimes the author purposely makes his narrator persona unreliable.

The first-person narrative is so characteristic of William Somerset Maugham, who is considered to be one of the best known English writers of the XX century. He is a great novelist, successful dramatist and popular short-story writer. His short stories are characterized by the brilliance of style, a pointed ridicule of many social vices and ironical cynicism. They are amusing and exciting as well as thought-provoking. In many of his works we find the first-person narrative. “The Moon and Sixpence” is a fine example of Maugham's style [3]. Our unnamed narrator, himself a writer, is a keen observer of events and emotions. And though he is a minor protagonist as well, he remains far enough removed from the central action of the novel that he never loses his sense of objectivity. The reader comes to rely on him as a trusted friend. And because of this relationship between narrator and reader, S. Maugham is able to paint a sympathetic portrait of his central character that the reader cannot help admiring. But at first glance Charles Strickland wins little admiration from the reader. Maugham makes no attempt to portray Strickland through rose-colored glasses. Strickland is a man completely devoted to his art, so obsessed that he completely ignores his family, welfare, and health. He lives his life as a semi-recluse, working prolifically in his studio yet neither showing nor selling his work to anyone. As with many artists, his true genius was not acknowledged until after his death. Despite these seemingly unsympathetic qualities, Strickland without doubt comes to be viewed as a hero of sorts. Here is a man bold enough to risk everything to pursue his dream, a man with sufficient character to disregard those who scoffed at him, and ultimately a man with true artistic genius. And there is an element of tragic heroism in his sometimes self-destructive struggle against insurmountable odds. As the closing events occur, and Strickland comes to his ultimate fate, one can't help but view the life and sacrifices of an artist with a whole new outlook, a whole new respect and appreciation. The character is so well developed and understood by his author that one cannot help but feel a greater fondness for the misunderstood Strickland and the literary skills of W. Somerset Maugham.

Thus, a writer’s choice of narrator is crucial for the way a work of fiction is perceived by the reader. A story told by the third-person omniscient narrator, the first-person narrator or with the second person account can have very different effects.

References

1. Blommaert J. Discourse: A Critical Introduction, Cambridge University Press,

2005
2. Harmer J. How to teach writing: Pearson Education Limited England and

Associated Companies throughout the world, 2008.

3. Maugham W. S. The Moon and Sixpence. СПб, 2005.

4. Stanzel, Franz K. A Theory of Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press, 1986.

5 . The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. Oxford, 1995.