English Studies 318: Theories of the
Real
2020 Notes
Table of Contents
LECTURE 1: THE ‘REALITY EFFECT’.....................................................................................2
1 THE REALITY EFFECT............................................................................................................................... 2
2 WHAT MAKES A TEXT APPEAR REALISTIC?..................................................................................................... 3
3 THE ADVERTISEMENT............................................................................................................................... 5
4 THE POLITICS OF THE REAL...................................................................................................................... 5
LECTURE 2: LANGUAGE IS SOCIAL......................................................................................7
1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 7
2 HETEROGLOSSIA..................................................................................................................................... 9
3 THE UTTERANCE................................................................................................................................... 10
4 DIALOGISM.......................................................................................................................................... 12
LECTURE 3: INNER SPEECH.............................................................................................. 13
1 INNER SPEECH..................................................................................................................................... 13
2 AUTHORITATIVE SPEECH......................................................................................................................... 14
3 INTERNALLY PERSUASIVE DISCOURSE........................................................................................................ 15
4 INNER SPEECH IN THE NOVEL.................................................................................................................. 16
5 A MODERNIST EXAMPLE FROM MRS. DALLOWAY.......................................................................................... 16
6 AN ANALYSIS OF THE EXTRACT................................................................................................................ 16
LECTURE 4: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY REALIST NOVEL...................................................18
1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................... 19
2 THE ART OF DESCRIPTION...................................................................................................................... 19
3 THE NOVEL & HETEROGLOSSIA............................................................................................................... 22
4 AN EXAMPLE FROM MIDDLEMARCH BY GEORGE ELIOT..................................................................................23
5 EXTRACT 1.......................................................................................................................................... 23
6 ANALYSIS OF EXTRACT 1........................................................................................................................ 23
7 EXTRACT 2: FROM MIDDLEMARCH............................................................................................................ 25
8 ANALYSIS OF EXTRACT 2........................................................................................................................ 25
LECTURE 5: TWO FORMS OF REALISM..............................................................................26
1 TWO FORMS OF REALISM....................................................................................................................... 26
2 A COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO FORMS OF NARRATION.................................................................................29
3 AN EXTRACT FROM MRS. DALLOWAY........................................................................................................ 29
4 AN ANALYSIS OF THE OPENING OF MRS. DALLOWAY....................................................................................29
LECTURE 6: BAKHTIN AND CRITICAL ANALYSIS.................................................................30
1 THE TEST............................................................................................................................................ 30
2 QUESTIONS.......................................................................................................................................... 31
1
,Lecture 1: The ‘Reality Effect’
This lecture series investigates some of the genres of representation which make a claim to
represent the real. Understanding realism is important because any claim to the real is a
political act. Drawing on the work of Russian linguist Mikhail Bakhtin, I outline a set of
concepts for analysing the narrative form of literary realism, both the classic realist novel of
the nineteenth century and the modernist novel of the twentieth century.
1 The Reality Effect
Aim of this lecture series Designed to do 2 things;
1 By the end of the lecture series on the development of fiction from realism to
modernism, there is an opportunity to reflect on the different forms of narration
that emerge in the course of this history.
Forms of narration – not really talking about the plots but rather HOW
these stories are being told & particularly, what sort of reality effect is
generated by each of these different styles of telling a story.
2 To show us a method of close reading.
How can we read texts (books, films, advertisements) with very close
attention to the narrative form to work out exactly how they persuade us
to see the world in a particular way.
Discussions will relate mainly to works of fiction rather than poetry, although
some aspects that focus on the workings of language itself, might be applicable to a
reading of modernist poetry.
Realism is always a political question
o Although novels & other narratives that make a claim to the real, cannot control
the way we see the world. They can create persuasive narratives & create
expectations about how the world is & how it should be.
For eg: Friend (in South Africa) found herself in an emergency. Dialed 911
on her cellphone. It seemed like the right thing to do. Her mind had been
schooled by an American realist narrative to the extent that the reality
superseded her own experience of reality. Her mistake points to the way
in which narratives of various kinds, frame reality & make it intelligible to
us.
The ‘Reality Effect’?
o Phrase was 1st used by theorist, Roland Barthes in 1978 & he used it to
describe the way in which in any novel, the effect of the real is created.
“How does the author create the impression of verisimilitude?”
Roland Barthes
o He calls it an effect because he wants to draw our attention to the fact that it is
an illusion. Like a special effect in the cinema, it is a technical device which
makes certain effects appear real. Not to say that the real doesn’t exist, rather to
suggest that we should be alert to the particular way in which the real is
presented to us in any representation.
o Any fictional representation presents us with a mediated encounter with reality
Edward Said “No one has ever devised a way of detaching the scholar [or
the author] from the circumstances of life, from the fact of his involvement
(conscious or unconscious) with a class, a set of beliefs, a social position,
or from the mere activity of being a member of a society.” (Orientalism,
10)
2
, o The words on the page are different from what we encounter when we
experience the world, the words on the page have been selected, crafted,
arranged to give us a particular perspective on the real.
Part of the pleasure of reading a novel or watching a film is the fact that
we acquire more information about the world than we usually do when we
go about our daily life.
The author explains things to us. Provides details of the history of a place,
the motivations, emotions & thoughts of the characters. The sequence of
events leading up to a particular event. The consequences of certain
actions & choices.
Not saying the authors are biased; because that would imply that it is
possible to present reality in an entirely objective way.
The only way you might be able to do that, is to use a machine instead of
a person, to record reality.
The fact that the author is engaged in this process of selection &
arrangement means that we are always seeing a mediated view of reality.
Not all novels or films make a claim to represent the real. Often those
that do not, like comic books or fantasy, include realist elements,
especially with regards to the setting. There is often an ordinary world in
the background in which the superhero may act. The plot & characters
may belong to the realm of fantasy, but the background is often designed
to emphasise its realism.
The texts we have read this semester fall into two categories; Classic 19 th Century
Realist Novels (Mansfield Park & Jane Eyre) & 20 th Century Modernist Novels (Heart of
Darkness & To the Lighthouse).
o Will try to compare the style of narrations in these 2 kinds of novels to see what
‘reality effect’ each produce & why.
o To do this, reflect on how language itself works to produce meaning.
o Will introduce some ideas of Russian linguist writing in the 2 nd half of the 20th
century Mikhail Bakhtin
Bakhtin argues that language is never a neutral medium of
communication, a tool which can be used to describe things & events
which exist in the real world. Instead it is something that has a life in the
world because it exists in the interactions between people.
o 2 shorts readings by Bakhtin that is useful for lecture 2: Heteroglossia & The
Construction of the Utterance
2 What makes a text appear realistic?
The elements of a text that make it appear realistic;
1) Familiar details
2) Recognizable characters
3) Known dialogue
4) Credibility
5) Plausibility
Texts can use a number of devices to persuade the reader of its realism.
o These devices make connections with the words on a page and the world beyond
the text
The elements of a text that make it appear realistic;
o Something could be familiar to you because you have encountered it in the
world, or because you have seen it represented many times before.
3
, o A character might be familiar to you from your own experience but can also be
familiar to you from characters you have seen many times in films/ series/ tv
o Dialogue itself can suggest a particular context or acquire a special significance
in the context in which it is spoken (will explore later with regards to Bakhtin’s
ideas)
Apparently the most common phrase in Hollywood movies is; “Try to get
some sleep”
A phrase/dialogue that is very familiar to us even though we might not be
aware of it
It is familiar to us not necessarily from our own personal experience but
rather from our experience from watching Hollywood film.
o Text always draws its credibility from its place in the wider culture
o It invites the reader into an agreement by creating a narrative that seems
plausible or likely – that seems to match our experience or knowledge of the
world.
Only a machine might be able to record reality objectively – this machine was actually
invented in the middle of the 19th century at roughly the same time that realism was
becoming the dominant mode in literature
o That machine is = The Camera
th
19 century the period in which the realist novel becomes established as the
dominant literary form, is also the period of the invention & refinement of the
technology of photography
o This century thus sees 2 forms developing which both make strong claims to
represent the real accurately, faithfully & in detail
Although we are today mostly skeptical viewers, we are aware of the fact that
photographs are not simply mirrors of the world
o But we tend to trust our eyes
o For eg; An eyewitness account is considered reliable in court but hearsay
(someone describing something they’ve been told) does not have the same
status as what has been seen
o Photography as a fixed record of what we see, is generally considered a more
reliable record of the world than a painting.
Andre Bazin, an early theorist of photography, believes that because the photograph
mechanically reproduced the world through lenses & photo sensitive film, it provided
an objective record of the world.
o “The objective nature of photography confers on it a quality of credibility absent
from other picture making. In spite of any objections our critical spirit may offer,
we are forced to accept as real the existence of the object reproduced, actually
re-presented, set before us, that is to say, in time and space.” (Bazin, The
Ontology of the Image, 13-14)
In one obvious way, photography cannot represent the real because they are always
moments frozen in time.
o They cannot show time passing, action or development.
o Until at the end of the 19th century, a mechanism is developed to project
photographs in a steady stream, thus creating the possibility of movement,
interaction, shifts in location & narrative
An advertisement is a small sequence of film
o An advertisement that makes a strong claim to the real
o View the advertisement on SunLearn under “Theories of the Real” Lecture 1.
o It is an advertisement for a tv channel
4
