Construction of Female Awareness and Discourse Authority : Interpretation of Palace of Desire from the Perspective of Feminist Narratology

Palace of Desire is an excellent costume TV series directed by Li Shaohong. There are two screenwriters named Zhen Chong and Wang Yao. They used unique writing strategies to narrate the story of Princess Tai Ping and Empress Wu Zetian who are trapped in a delimma of power and emotion during a special period of Tang Dynasty, showing the confusion of women in the feudal society of ancient China. This article will use the theory of feminist stylistics to analyze the script of Palace of Desire. To be more specific, the paper focuses on narrative voices in Palace of Desire. It is hoped that how the screenwriters construct the narrative authority of women and make the work a feminist classic can be interpreted.

Ik, Vondel (2017) van Hans Croiset als fictieve autobiografie

In this article, I analyze Ik, Vondel (2017) by Hans Croiset. How does the reader of this book become convinced that he/she is reading a fictional autobiography of Vondel? I focused on two aspects that encourage such an autobiographical reading: the narrative strategy and the interplay of referential and fictional elements. The one factor that can captivate readers is the complex way in which the very elderly Vondel tells his story as an autobiographical self. He also reflects on his autobiographical writing and on the material forms his autobiography takes. The subservient role of his niece Agnes becomes more important to his autobiography, as his old age increasingly imposes restrictions on him. She appears to be hidden behind both the organizing narrative authority and the guiding narrator who present themselves from the very first chapter. The reader receives referential signals mainly through the annotations and the source list at the back of the book. Within the narrative there are referential signals in terms of the historical-realist details, personal names, locations, and events that create an effect of verisimilitude. Fictionalizing effects include the different types of conversations that I-Vondel stages, as well as the association of his emotion-driven memories with imagined elements. Nederlandstalig abstract In dit artikel analyseer ik het boek Ik, Vondel (2017) van Hans Croiset. Hoe raakt de lezer ervan overtuigd dat hij/zij een fictieve autobiografie van Vondel in handen heeft? Ik heb gekeken naar twee invalshoeken die tot zo’n autobiografische lectuur aanzetten: de vertelstrategie en het samenspel van referentiële en fictionele elementen. Dé factor die lezers kan verleiden, is de complexe manier waarop de hoogbejaarde Vondel zijn verhaal als autobiografisch-ik vertelt. Ook reflecteert hij op zijn autobiografisch schrijven en op de materiële vormen die zijn autobiografie aanneemt. De dienstbare en geloofwaardige rol van zijn nicht Agnes wordt naarmate zijn ouderdom hem steeds meer beperkingen oplegt, belangrijker voor zijn autobiografie. Zij blijkt schuil te gaan achter zowel de organiserende vertelinstantie als de gids-verteller die zich in Ik, Vondel vanaf het eerste hoofdstuk aandienen. Referentiële signalen krijgt de lezer met name via de annotaties en de bronnenlijst achterin het boek. Binnen het verhaal zijn het de historisch-realistische details, persoonsnamen, locaties en gebeurtenissen die een echtheidseffect tot stand brengen. Fictionaliserend werken onder meer de verschillende soorten gesprekken die ik-Vondel ensceneert, evenals de associatie van de door emotie aangedreven herinneringen met verbeeldingselementen.

From Cape Verde to Newport

This Report from the Field is a post-mortem reflection on a statewide memorialization project on slavery that ultimately failed. In this essay, I attribute the failure of the project in large part to conflicting historical approaches and claims to narrative authority over the representation of a specifically Rhode Island image of slavery. Although the organization studied here no longer exists, other nascent grassroots organizations dedicated to the memorialization of slavery and grappling with issues of emerging narratives and competing claims to local memory may derive benefit from my analysis and the proposed “scaffolded conversations” with which I conclude.

Quartet’s Modernist Muddles

The triangulation of masochistic desire that takes center stage in Jean Rhys’s Quartet attests to the self-aware participation of all parties involved, an overt acknowledgement of a developing collective consciousness suddenly more informed by psychoanalysis and sexology. The popularity of sexology and psychoanalysis during the 1920s allows readers to understand that seemingly helpless Marya and apparently predatory duo, the Heidlers, are all aware of masochistic possibilities and the consequences of their sexual and romantic decisions. Given narrative authority to ascribe thoughts and emotions to other characters, Marya takes such as opportunities to abuse and humiliate herself, hiding her active power under the projected opinions of others. Marya is complicit in the crafting and unfolding of her masochistic fantasies, however hurtful and upsetting they may be, ultimately exposing the surprising but telling amount of personal and narrative agency ascribed to her.