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*Adapted and derived from Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory

*Adapted and derived from Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory * Informed by the work of Lee Gutkind , “Godfather of Creative Nonfiction. For use in COM407, Sarah Amira de la Garza, used throughout course.

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*Adapted and derived from Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory

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  1. *Adapted and derived from Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory *Informed by the work of Lee Gutkind, “Godfather of Creative Nonfiction For use in COM407, Sarah Amira de la Garza, used throughout course Structuralism/Post-StructuralismPostmodernismNARRATOLOGY* &WRITING CRITICAL CREATIVE NONFICTION**

  2. Structuralism assumes: • A “centered” universe • Things are methodical & systematic • Operational and functional • Post-Structuralism (and often “Deconstructionists) • therefore claim such things as that they are “de-centering …our intellectual universe” (Derrida in Barry) Structuralism/Post-Structuralism

  3. Structuralism • Cool, detached • Methodical • Operational/Functional Post-Structural • Emotive, warm, involved • Randomness of material • Textual independence • ism • From a post-structuralist position, we begin to emphasize and focus on such things as otherness, marginality, and other such standpoints that are de-centered. • Decentering ushers in a freedom and corresponding ‘joy’ that arises from the lack of functional or operational determinism present in structuralism • In post-structural ‘deconstruction, the critic is often demonstrating the lack of the ‘center’ that had been assumed, or the instability of the assumed structure

  4. POSTMODERNISM Modernism • A response to convention and structuralist assumptions • Challenges and rejects the fundamentals of practice Some would question whether ‘post-modernism’ is a continuation of modernism or whether it opposes it. Some of the key aspects that differentiate them follow.

  5. Comparing Modernist/postmodernist MODERNIST • Laments the fragmentation that results from conventional practice • Fierce ascetism , rejection of excess and the elaborate • Find excess repulsive • Move towards minimalism POSTMODERNIST • Celebrates the fragmentation that allows for limitless possibilities • Sees modernism ascetism as a form of elitism • Celebrates excess as gaudiness • Postmodernist blend to excess, collect and layer, celebrate ‘bad taste’ • Postmodernists know form, not for its convention, but for its randomness or chance. As such, postmodern texts will demonstrate elements of: • Pastiche • Parody • Collage • Intertextuality • Irony (opposite implications)

  6. Deconstructionists… • Focus on how words are used & how they compete or compare to the norm • Look for SHIFTS or dis-continuity in the text • Are aware of language’s capability to say many things, including “what must be said” • THE VERBAL • THE TEXTUAL • THE LINGUISTIC

  7. Deconstructive process • The aim of a deconstructive reading is to: • Expose contradictions (what isn’t expressed might be more valid than what IS expressed, therefore we must seek for ways the text gives us insight into what isn’t said about the topic at hand) • Critique discontinuity (when one thing doesn’t actually ‘flow’ from another). Also critiques a lack of purpose (just because something is sensible or sounds good doesn’t necessarily mean it necessarily logical to heed it) • Identify impasses (or aporia) where the text contradicts itself (if you assume what it asks you are actually able to defeat its assumptions)

  8. NARRATOLOGY • Branch of structuralism with roots also in linguistic theory • It is the study of how narratives make meaning and what the basic mechanisms and procedures are which are common to all acts of story-telling.  • It is not, then, the reading or interpretation of individual stories, but the attempt to study the nature of ‘story’ itself, as a concept and a cultural practice • Narratologist’sdistinction between ‘story’ and ‘plot’ where story is actual sequence of events as happen and plot is those events as they are edited, ordered, packaged, and presented in what we recognize as a narrative • These days, people prefer to talk of “discourse” rather than plot because discourse can include style, viewpoint, pace, etc. which are the “packaging” of the story

  9. KEY FIGURES IN NARRATOLOGY:Aristotle Essential Elements of Story: • differentiated between “character” & “action” • character is revealed through action or plot Key Elements to Plot: • sin/fault (hamartia) • Recognition or Realization (anagnorisis)—protagonist recognizes his/her fault/sin. • Turn-around or Reversal of fortune as hero falls from greatness (peripeteia)

  10. Key figures in narratology: GENETTE • Gerard Genette (20th c.) • Key question: --“is the narrative MIMETIC or DIEGETIC? • MIMETIC: dramatized or presented in a scenic way with setting, dialogue/direct speech (emphasized in ethnography)(shows, not tells) • DIEGETIC: presented in rapid or panoramic or summarizing way “tells, doesn’t show”

  11. What do narratologists do? • look at individual narratives seeking out recurrent structures found within all narratives • switch much of critical attention away from mere ‘content’ of tale, focusing on teller and process of telling • take categories derived mainly from analysis of short narratives and expand and refine them so they are able to account for complexities of novel-length narratives • counteract tendency of conventional criticism to foreground character and motive by foregrounding action and structure • derive much of reading pleasure and interest from affinities between all narratives, rather than from uniqueness and originality of small number of highly-regarded examples

  12. FIVE R’S of CREATIVE NONFICTION R is for REAL LIFE:True stories, “you can’t make this stuff up” R is for REFLECTION: Writer’s feelings and responses about a subject creatively shared R is for RESEARCH:Present information, combining creativity and experience with information, expanding on themes/topics R is for READING:Read the work of other CNF writers—learn from their examples! R is for wRITING:Keep writing—allow for your passion to open you up to the ‘muse’ /inspiration

  13. Lee GUTKIND: “GODFATHER OF CNF” The MAIN POINT OF FOCUS in CREATIVE NONFICTION: http://www.leegutkind.com/resources/videos/the-main-point-of-focus-in-creative-nonfiction/ The STRUCTURE of CREATIVE NONFICTION: http://www.leegutkind.com/resources/videos/the-structure-of-creative-nonfiction/ The YELLOW TEST: SCENES: http://www.leegutkind.com/resources/videos/the-yellow-test/ For more: http://www.leegutkind.com/resources/videos/

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