CHAPTER 2: THE NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES
When we undertake the narrative techniques' analysis of a
work, the resort of stylistic considerations seems to be inevitable. This
aspect, which constitutes a bridge between linguistics and literature, refers
to various techniques of literary creation. Its good use enhances the aesthetic
quality of literary work through its structure and expression. In fact,
language is the main resource writers work with.
The purpose of this chapter lies on the answer to the
following subsidiary question: what are the narrative methods applied by Buchi
Emecheta in The Slave Girl to highlight ideas and feelings? In order
to deal with this point, the following aspects will be tackled: dialogism and
oral traditions.
1. Dialogism
Dialogism can be defined as the representation of an author's
thoughts through the use of dialogues between two or more of his/ her
characters. Throughout this section, we are going to consider first dialogues
and then monologues.
1.1. Dialogues
A dialogue is a verbal exchange between two interlocutors at
least. In literature, it makes the characters sound normal so as to meet the
principle of verisimilitude. They can on their own express their emotional
states. In other terms, dialogues are the literary transcription into direct
speech of actual or fictional conversations which is opposed to the story
related by the narrator. The latter allows characters express their own
viewpoint in a given situation as Todorov (1981: 77) asserts:
«Aucun membre de la communauté verbale ne
trouve jamais des mots de la langue qui soient neutres, exempts des aspirations
et des évaluations d'autrui, inhabités par la voix d'autrui et ce
mot en reste rempli. Il intervient dans son contexte à partir d'un autre
contexte, pénétré des intentions d'autrui. Sa propre
intention trouve un mot déjà habité»
In fact, dialogues are used by people in everyday life to
express their thoughts, feelings, and their state of mind. In Buchi Emecheta's
The Slave Girl, dialogues are recognized by open and close inverted
comas, and by the use of the first and second personal pronouns and possessive
pronouns.
Actually, African novels are rich in dialogues because oratory
is highly praised in our communities. In this respect, it is evident to remark
that Buchi Emecheta's The Slave Girl is rich in dialogues. In fact,
dialogues found in this novel enable readers to reveal the characters'
behaviour.
In this sub-section, we are mostly concerned with crucial
conversations and everyday ones. Defining the first type, Joseph, Grenny, Ron
Mc Millan and Al Switzler (2002: 13) writes: «Crucial conversation -
conversations that occur when there is a lot at stake when emotions are strong,
and when opinions differ». Referring to the above statement, it comes
out that crucial conversations mean hot dialogues between characters where
nasty things can be said. Considering the topic of The Slave Girl, it
seems obvious that this kind of exchanges can be found. Thus, the following
conversation between Miss Victoria and Ojebeta is a perfect example of crucial
conversation:
«How dare you keep me waiting? Don't you know we'll
miss the ferry?» She raises her right hand to strike as usual.
«I am not going to Bonny with you.» She shouted
defiantly. «I am going to my people. I'm going home!
«You can't go. We bought you. You'll be treated as a
runaway slave. I will not come with you.
«No Miss Victoria, I will not come with
you....» (Buchi Emecheta, 1977: 144)
It results from this passage that the characters' words or
speeches are between inverted comas. In this dialogue, we remark the use of
personal and possessive pronouns. The personal pronoun «you» in the
following passage «How dare you keep me waiting? Don't you know we'll miss
the ferry?» points out the interlocutor of Miss Victoria who is the major
character named Ojebeta.
On the other hand, the pre-verbal particle «I»
refers to both the addresser and the addressee when exchanging roles. The hard
words used in this dialogue shows that Ojebeta is challenging Victoria who is
using nasty words against her mistress's. She does not want to undertake the
trip suggested by her master's daughter. She wants her to take care of her
children but she refuses.
This verbal violence is also found in the tenth chapter of the
novel when Clifford reacted strongly against the way Miss Victoria ill-treated
Ojebeta:
«You good for nothing - for - nothing slave! You
bush slave
«You must stop now, Victoria, I say stop...
«Why, she's only a slave! What is she to you?
«But she is our relation too.» (Buchi
Emecheta, 1977: 114)
Actually, this passage is a dialogue explaining the crucial
conversation between Miss Victoria and her brother. This dialogue is recognized
here by the use of inverted comas and of the first and the second personal
pronouns. «You» refers to the interlocutor whom speaker is addressing
to and «I» in this dialogue is essentially the interlocutor's turn
taking. Additionally, this dialogue is characterized by the exclamation marks,
expressing Miss Victoria's emotional states or feelings.
Apart from crucial conversations characterized by violence and
insults, there are also friendly or everyday ones in Buchi Emecheta's The
Slave Girl. Here, they are categorized by non-violence. In this novel, the
friendly conversations are first expressed by the casual chat amongst
characters as evidenced in the dialogue below between Palagada and Okolie:
«I am going to the food stalls to eat some pounded
yam. I shall not be long.
«I will show you the way», Ma Palagada said
casually to Okolie. (Buchi Emecheta, 1977: 54)
Actually, this dialogue is mainly expressed by the use of the
present continuous tense, implying the near future during which the action will
take place, and the future simple. This future, in fact, involves here the
addresser's wish. However, in this passage, we remark the use of the personal
pronoun «I» in the two interactions. These refer to both the speaker
and the interlocutor. Moreover, we observe that this paragraph is attached with
the narrator comment «Ma Palagada said casually to Okolie».
Secondly, Friendly conversations concerns the feeling of
lamentations to female characters. The best example is observed in the
following passage:
«Well, it is like a man cutting a lock of a girl's
hair - it makes a marriage last forever until either of them dies. But unlike
the cutting of the hair, the husband is restricted too. He has to marry only
me, just one wife as the Bible says.
«Suppose you did not have children for him, what
would he do? What would his people say to you, holding their son like
that?» (Buchi Emecheta, 1977: 173)
Evidently, this passage is a dialogue between Ojebeta and her
aunt, Uteh. This dialogue is recognized here by the use of inverted comas.
Different to other dialogues, in this one we remark the use of third person
pronoun «he», that helps us to guess that the speaker and the
interlocutors are talking about another character. Put otherwise, this dialogue
is mainly expressed in the simple present tense to update the situation in
which they are concerned with. Besides, Buchi Emecheta raises women's fate due
to sterility through this conversation because it seems to be one of the causes
of polygamy.
Friendly conversations are also uttered to express
superstitious realities as the dialogue below illustrates:
«Why are you washing them, big mother?
«To be buried with your mother. She will need them to
cook for your father in the land of the dead. Look, I have even filled a big
calabash with soap for her, so that she will never lack any.» (Buchi,
1977: 29)
This passage is a dialogue between Ojebeta and Eteh. But it is
interesting to note from this conversation that we notice the use of
«you» and «I». The second person pronoun «you»
expresses in fact the interlocutor, that is to say the person to whom the
question is asked. And the first person pronoun «I» underlines the
interlocutor turn-taking; it means that he responds to the question.
Friendly conversations are then expressed in The Slave
Girl to elucidate character's emotions, projects and confidentiality. In
fact, during her talk with Amanna, Ojebeta reveals her ambition to leave Ma
Palagada's home for Ibuza. So, the excellent point in case is the utterances
below:
«Do you still have my share of the money we got when
we did that dance during the harvest? She asked
«Yes, I buried it, where we buried the canes.
«Do you want your share, then? Amanna asked her voice
low and tremulous.
Ojebeta nodded. After a pause she added, «I want to
go back to my people.» (Buchi Emecheta, 1977: 142)
From this passage, we remark the use of questions by the first
interlocutor. To be clearer, the first speaker's utterances are expressed in
the interrogative form, while the interlocutor's response is in declarative
one. Moreover, the verbs in this dialogue are essentially conjugated in the
simple present. Yet, these utterances are accompanied by the narrator's
commentaries «She asked», «Ammana asked...» and
«Ojebeta nodded».
Apart from dialogues, monologues are also our main concerned
in this section.
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