RSSReview: Rethinking Narrative Identity: Persona and Perspective
Jul 08
EDITOR: Claudia Holler
EDITOR: Martin Klepper
TITLE: Rethinking Narrative Identity
SUBTITLE: Persona and Perspective
SERIES TITLE: Studies in Narrative 17
PUBLISHER: John Benjamins
YEAR: 2013
REVIEWER: Damian J. Rivers, Osaka University
SUMMARY
As Volume 17 of the Studies in Narrative (SiN) series (edited by Michael
Bamberg), this book offers a multi-dimensional approach to the exploration and
understanding of narrative and the plethora of channels through which
conceptualizations of narrative and identity are intertwined. The ten chapters
within the volume originate from a diverse array of academic fields such as
literary theory, philosophy, gender studies, and history, thus tending to a
broad spectrum of potential reader interest. Within their own individual area
of specialization, the contributing authors each highlight the importance of
perspective and persona in the perception of and the possibilities existent in
the creation and interpretation of narrative identities.
The Introduction [Rethinking narrative identity: Persona and perspective], by
Martin Klepper, serves to announce the direction of the volume and the
multi-disciplinary parameters of the ten proceeding individual chapters by
providing “initial impulses” intended to “open up a dialogue with the
explorations that follow” (p. 4). The author draws upon an impressive body of
literature concerning, amongst other issues, the narrative understanding of
personal identities, with particular attention given to the work of the
philosopher, Paul Ricoeur (a significant presence throughout the volume).
Klepper describes the volume as a collection of ”essays by scholars from
various disciplines exploring to which extent and with which modifications the
notion of narrative identity is productive in their field of expertise” (p.
4). These ten chapters are positioned as being situated within the rapidly
transforming lifeworlds of the twenty-first century and this analogy
accurately captures the sense of dynamism present throughout the volume.
Important in focusing the expectations of the reader is the author’s
acknowledgement that ”the resulting mosaic is not a neat, homogenous one”
(p. 4). On the whole, the Introduction offers an exciting variety of
insightful perspectives on narrative identity and primes the reader for what
follows.
Chapter 1 [Identity and empathy: On the correlation of narrativity and
morality], by Norbert Meuter (translated by B. Greenhill, C Himmelreich, C.
Holler and M. Klepper), converges specifically upon the question of ethics in
narrative from a philosophical perspective. The author’s main thesis is that
”[m]oral experience and acting are fundamentally based on processes of
identity and empathy formation, and narratives enable, create, stabilize and
energize both identity and empathy” (p. 33). The chapter is divided into
three thematic sections, each featuring numerous sub-sections dealing with
narrativity, morality, and the correlation between these two terms. In making
reference to the “double structure that represents the central touchstone of
narrative ethics”, the author surmises that ”[e]mpathy and identity are two
sides of one (moral) cause. Self and Other are two values that cannot be
pitted against one another” (p. 46).
Chapter 2 [Axes of identity: Persona, perspective, and the meaning of (Keith
Richards’s) life], by Mark Freeman, takes the self-identity work of William
James as a foundation and looks at two interrelated axes of identity,
identified in the author’s previous work as time and relatedness to the Other.
Through the use of Keith Richards’s memoir ‘Life’, the author illustrates and
explores the processes involved in negotiating one’s own and others’
perspectives on the self. Underscored by questions of ”[w]hy should we care
so much about Keith Richards? Why should we care so much that we are willing
to read through nearly 600 pages of his life?” (p. 55), the author presents a
number of interesting extracts from the memoir and analyzes them in relation
to various threads of narrative identity such as persona, the duality of human
nature, and authenticity.
Chapter 3 [The quest for a third space: Heterotopic self-positioning and
narrative identity], by Wolfgang Kraus, concerns issues of belonging and the
question of ”Who am I part of?” found within narrative approaches to
identity construction as well as the more commonly asked question of ”Who am
I in time” (p. 69). Related to issues of (intentional) self-positioning and
other-positioning, the author ponders on how it is possible for individuals to
”maintain the dynamics of self-positioning in self-stories, which are largely
shaped by the experience of social exclusion” (p. 69). Interview excerpts are
shared and serve as a platform for an in-depth discussion in which the author
asks ”[h]ow do people deal with the experience of stereotyping, which keeps
them fixed in a position of being ‘othered’…?” (p. 75). The idea of a third
space is then analyzed, along with the issue of heterotopias and
self-positioning, heterotopias as choice and construction, the narration of
heterotopic experiences, and heterotopic positioning as ‘work on the
impossible’. The author concludes by noting that a primary challenge for
future research is to ”look for the hardly sayable, the small blades of grass
between the rigidity of dominant, superficially well-defined and seemingly
unchangeable binary tales” (p. 82).
Chapter 4 [Constructing perspectives as positioning resources in stories of
the self], by Gabriele Lucius-Hoene, examines the role of perspectivation in
personal storytelling and the negotiation of moral claims through which the
”almighty author” is able ”to gain authentication and persuasive power
while refraining from explicit evaluations” (p. 85). With a ”twist [which]
namely complicates the stories they tell about their lives and their problems
in interview setting” (p. 87), the author cites two stories taken from
narrative interviews with sufferers of severe chronic illness. The author
shares the two conversation transcriptions and gives a thorough analysis of
each, highlighting the rhetorical devices used, in addition to providing a
broad sociolinguistic interpretation. The author concludes that both narrators
”show a strong tendency for interactive orientation; also, they exploit their
stories for the purpose of entertaining the listener by using a variety of
stylistic means” (p. 99).
Chapter 5 [Referential frameworks and focalization in a craft artist’s life
story: A socionarratological perspective on narrative identity], by Jarmila
Mildorf, explores “the roles perspective can play in conversational
storytelling…and to what extent literary narratology can offer useful terms to
describe perspective-taking in such contexts” (p. 103). Utilizing a detailed
life interview with a craft artist (Dominic Di Mare), the author emphasizes
instances of focalization and how the artist positions himself during the
interview and in his narrative, as well as how the artist offers invitation to
the interviewer (Signe Mayfield) to partially adopt his position. The
mid-sections of the chapter discuss previous narrative studies, present an
outline of what David Herman terms as socionarratology, and offer an
examination of the term focalization. The author then shares an analysis of
the interview before concluding that much can be gained from “combining
linguistic narrative analysis with narratological concepts” (p. 113).
Chapter 6 [Strange perspectives = strange (narrative?) identities?], by
Rüdiger Heinze, asks ”[i]f our understanding of fictional narratives is based
on real-world experiential cognitive parameters, how do we deal with texts
that cannot be fully grasped in accordance with these parameters, and what
effects do these ‘unnatural’ texts have on everyday storytelling” (p. 117).
The author uses Galen Strawson’s argument against narrative identity as a
starting point and gives specific attention to ”’strange’ and ‘unnatural’
narrative perspectives” (p. 119) that extend beyond the common genre of
autobiography. The author provides ample background literature and
rationalizes the main argument through reference to five clearly stated
assumptions. The chapter then draws upon Rick Moody’s novel, ‘The Ice Storm’,
and his (very) short story, ‘The Grid’, to demonstrate what happens ”to
narrative identity and perspective if we take unnatural narratives with
impossible perspectives seriously” (p. 123). The author closes the chapter by
highlighting how such examples offer a ”conception of narrative identity and
perspective that [does] justice to our often very weird lives” (p. 126).
Chapter 7 [”Indefinite, sketchy, but not entirely obliterated”: Narrative
identity in Jeffrey Eugenides’s ‘Middlesex’], by Nicole Frey Büchel, analyzes
the narrated identity experiences and selfhood construction of the intersexual
narrator and protagonist (Calliope Stephanides) within ‘Middlesex’. From a
mainly post-structuralist perspective and based on the belief that narratives
are forced to communicate with pre-existing texts, the author suggests that
consequently ”narratives are revealed to be incapable of providing a definite
selfhood” and that ‘Middlesex’ ”reformulates the concept of narrative
identity in terms of constant, ultimately open-ended performance” (p. 130).
Making extensive use of supporting footnotes, the chapter provides a detailed
literary analysis of the narrated experiences of the protagonist and the
subsequent implications for selfhood and identity. The author concludes by
asserting how “the very ruptures in Cal’s narrative identity are the features
that ultimately come to define his individual and unique self” (p. 145).
Chapter 8 [Creative confession: Self-writing, forgiveness and ethics in Ian
McEwan’s ‘Atonement’], by Kim L. Worthington, explores issues surrounding
truth and self-forgiveness in the act of the self-authorizing confession, and
the ethical considerations raised as a consequence. With emphasis on Ian
McEwan’s ‘Atonement’, and the protagonist Briony Tallis, the author argues
that the novel ”points up the impossibility of attaining either truth or
self-forgiveness via acts of (confessional) self-writing” (p. 148). The first
part of the chapter provides a thematic discussion of the parameters of the
act of confession and draws upon the work of scholars such as Peter Brooks,
Michel Foucault and J.M. Coetzee. The proceeding sections of the chapter
provide detailed critical analyses of the novel from a number of comparative
perspectives, whilst retaining a clear focus on the act of confession and the
implications created for narrative identity.
Chapter 9 [The queer self and the snares of heteronormativity: Quentin Crisp’s
life story – A successful failure], by Eveline Kilian, investigates the
autobiographical life writings of Quentin Crisp in ‘The Naked Civil Servant’.
With implications for autobiographical structure and queer conceptualizations
of time, Quentin Crisp is cast as one of ”heteronormativity’s marginalized
others” (p. 171) who are required to manage a quite paradoxical existence.
The significance of ‘The Naked Civil Servant’ and the fascinating
autobiographical identities portrayed by Quentin Crisp are situated within the
chapter as being demonstrative of ”the self-fashioning of a queer subject who
defies hegemonic gender norms and counters society’s undisguised hostility and
ostracism by squarely inhabiting the position of the abject attributed to
him” (p. 172). Throughout the chapter, a detailed analysis is offered
concerning the manner in which Quentin Crisp, through the unconditional
acceptance of a lifestyle deemed to be failure by society, is able to
ultimately achieve success and ”beat the system at its own game” (p. 183)
without conforming to the norms of heteronormativity.
Chapter 10 [Confessional poetry: A poetic perspective on narrative identity],
by Eva Brunner, shares a broad literary exploration of identity construction
within lyrical texts (three Anne Sexton poems) and deals with issues such as
different self-concepts, the possibility of multiple selves, permanent
self-actualization through narrative, conventional narratological frames, and
the relationship between identity and emotion. The author offers a detailed
introduction of narrative identity and narratological frames, citing scholars
from philosophy, literature, and psychology in order to highlight different
conceptualizations of narrative. The focus of the chapter then turns toward
confessional poetry that is ”situated in a transitional space between
modernism and postmodernism” (p. 191) and an analysis of three of Anne
Sexton’s poems. In concluding, the author draws attention to how the
”self-presentations in these poems are concerned with emotional states rather
than with sequences of events, although these aspects often overlap” (p.
200). This position underpins the author’s call for greater attention to be
given to ”the emotional aspects of identity” (p. 201).
EVALUATION
In casting the narration of the self as a process never fully achieving a
“final configuration”, co-editor of the volume Martin Klepper asserts how “the
need for coherence and unity must be seen in a paradoxical relation to the
tendency towards contingency and diffusion”, and this is suggested as the
“homology that ultimately brings narrative and identity together” (p. 28).
This observation can be positioned as a metaphor for the volume as a whole.
Indeed, one of the most attractive features of the volume is the richness and
diversity of the perspectives expressed throughout each chapter, in addition
to the variety of approaches taken by each of the respective authors. In
producing a volume that demonstrates collective freedom from the potential
confines of one particular discipline, the notions of narrative and identity
are comprehensively brought together through a refreshing collage of
expression and vitality. Each chapter presents the reader with a substantive
exploration of narrative identity without undue repetition. The specific
characteristics of each chapter and the different academic fields from which
the authors originate ensure that this volume offers the reader an invitation
and access to information that might well inspire new directions of
exploration.
In situating this rather sophisticated volume alongside other books, it is
liberating to see that the most general topic of investigation (narrative
identity) is given clear precedence over the academic field through which it
is observed and, much in the same manner as the paradox noted in the paragraph
above, this structure has the somewhat unexpected effect of producing a
coherent and cohesive collection of chapters. The editors have clearly
achieved the stated goal of “present[ing] essays by scholars from various
disciplines exploring to which extent and with which modification the notion
of narrative identity is productive in their field of expertise” (p. 4). The
approach taken by the editors should be commended, as all too often the
individual chapters within such edited volumes are unified as much by the
field from which they originate as they are by the general theme of the
volume. In this respect, and through the pleasurable experience of reading the
book, it would seem productive to have more volumes published that embrace a
multi-disciplinary approach toward a particular notion as a means of providing
the reader with a more comprehensive account. The multi-disciplinary nature of
this volume also serves to broaden the potential target audience. In offering
numerous pathways to the study and understanding of narrative identity, one
could expect that readers of this book will be primarily brought together via
a shared interest in narrative identity, as opposed to a primary interest in
linguistics, psychology or any of the other academic fields presented within
this volume. For example, having read numerous other volumes on narrative
identity from a sociological background (e.g. Holstein and Gubrium, 2000),
this volume has stimulated a desire to further explore the psychological work
of Wolfgang Kraus (author of Chapter Three) and the identity literature of
Quentin Crisp (featured in Chapter Nine).
Whilst certainly appealing to a wide audience, one might suggest that this
volume is not entirely suitable for students (particularly undergraduates) or
casual readers in narrative identity, unless the reader is willing to invest a
significant amount of time into the volume. Many of the chapters are complex
and make extended reference to rather heavy philosophical works. As a result,
the material can at times seem quite demanding. Despite this rather minor
observation, as a teacher-researcher with an interest in narrative identity,
this volume will certainly serve as a frequent source of direct and indirect
reference for a number of related projects. The diversity shown within the
study and the understanding of narrative identity throughout the volume are
undeniably impressive. Other readers across multiple fields of study will also
find the volume to be a rewarding experience; one that, if given sufficient
investment, will lead to a rethinking of narrative identity.
REFERENCES
Holstein, J.A. and Gubrium, J.F. (2000). The self we live by: Narrative
identity in a postmodern world. New York: Oxford University Press.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Damian J. Rivers is an Associate Professor at Osaka University in the English
Department, Graduate School of Language and Culture and holds a Ph.D in
Applied Linguistics from the University of Leicester, England. His main
research interests concern the management of multiple identities in relation
to otherness, the impact of national identities upon a variety of foreign
language education processes, critical issues in intercultural communication,
and social processes underpinning intergroup stereotypes. He is co-editor of
‘Native-Speakerism in Japan: Intergroup Dynamics in Foreign Language
Education’ (2013, Multilingual Matters) and ‘Social Identities and Multiple
Selves in Foreign Language Education’ (2013, Bloomsbury) (www.djrivers.com).
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