Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Guten Tag Structure
The structure of Ugresic's novel is a move from the fluid and chronological nature of most novels, and it is this lack of flow which makes the book's story difficult to grasp. However, "Guten Tag's" structure appears to have purpose. Given that the story focuses on a sense of displacement and exile, it is appropriate for the novel's structure to mimic these moods through text. Choosing to avoid a sequential telling, the changing scences extend a bridge to the reader, giving the author more authority in deciding what the reader should feel, reading this novel (confusion, ostracism, depersonalization). However, this same structure also threatens the novel's effectiveness, as certain readers may be unable to note the parallels in structure and content. Consequently, it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of ''Guten Tag."
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Good post, I liked how you made the point that the narrative style could be used to get the reader feeling the confused, ostracized feel the novel is trying to convey. It is very possible that that could be the case.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the structure of the novel contributes to the overall meaning of the book I also agree that the structure threatens the effectiveness. From the prospective of a reader the novel is hard to follow summarize and remember
ReplyDeleteI like several things that you mentioned in your post, especially about the sense of displacement and exile that is exhibited by the structure of writing. I was trying to get around those descriptions when I was writing my own post but couldn't find the exact words.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that this structure threatens the novel's effectiveness and readability--I wonder whether I would have taken the trouble to keep trying this novel if it hadn't been for class.