TATD Narrative Style Analysis

Many authors use many different types of narrative techniques in order to portray their idealized goal to their readers. “Stream of consciousness” is a specific narrative technique that takes the reader into the character’s mind in order to fully in capture the character’s sensations, all leading to their five senses. This then allows the reader to tap into the character’s “train of thought”, which can be quite different than first-person narration, as this technique can seem more raw and un-cut, giving the reader a more authentic view on the character’s mental state. Most authors however use this technique through third-person narration where it seems as though the character has taken over through a monologue. 

In The Thief and The Dogs, the use of this technique was quite evident throughout the novel and highlighted extremely significant moments in the novel. As Mahfouz was the pioneer of using this technique in Arabic literature, he still uses third-person omniscient narration, but breaks away in specific moments, combing both techniques and styles. As mentioned before, primarily Mahfouz uses an interior monologue to truly dive deep into Said’s mind and his motivations for his actions. As most of the monologues are quite spastic and unorganized, this gives a reader an insider look on Said’s deteriorating mental state. Through this Mahfouz is able to characterize Said’s feelings of revenge and betrayal, allowing the audience to sympathise with this complex character. 

Mahfouz does not stick with one style, and through the novel he is switching back and forth between narration and Said’s conscious. This allows the reader to understand the actions of Said’s and his motivations behind them. An example from the book is when Said is released from prison, he mentions that he describes himself as a “man who can dive like a fish, fly like a hawk, scale walls like a rat, pierce solid doors like a bullet!”. This continuous use of animal imagery to invite the audience to view Said’s animalistic nature can also be seen when he sneaks into Rauf’s house, “like a cat creeping on its belly toward a bewildered sparrow”. Mahfouz choosing to use animalistic imagery is to reflect Said’s behavior as barbaric, further highlighting that Said has not yet adapted to the new Cairo. 

When the reader dives deeper into the novel it can be seen that Said’s thirst for revenge change the way his thoughts read on paper, making them become more violent and cruel. When Said is delivering his monologue he is read to have more hatred towards the secondary characters and develop a greater motivation for crime. This allows the reader to stay on their feet during the novel as they await for Said’s next action. This blend of third-person omniscient and stream of consciousness contrast, as many times throughout the book, Said will tell a different side of what will actually happen. For example, when he was describing himself as an excellent thief, “You’ll get away without a scratch, just as easily as you have scores of times: you can scale an apartment building in seconds, jump unhurt from a third-floor window—even fly if you wish!” This is then ironic when the reader finds out, through third-person omniscient, that he in fact failed to rob Rauf’s house. 

The use of stream of consciousness was very purposeful for Mahfouz as the context played a very important role. Mahfouz aimed to establish the confusion that was found post-revolutionary period in Egypt. To do this, he integrated stream of consciousness to allow the reader to tap into that same confusion that the character was feeling at the time, through his thoughts and emotions. 

When looking at Things Fall Apart, by Achebe, it can be seen that both authors have used third-person omniscient. In Things Fall Apart, unlike Mahfouz, Achebe enraptured the character’s thoughts and emotions through third-person narration. This is done by consistency changing the narration between the characters as it begins with Okonkwo, then Ikemefuna, then Nwyoe, finally then the District Commissioner. Achebe does this in order to tell the story with multiple perspectives and insights. He was very aware of the dangers of a “single-story” and continuously tried to gear away from those elements, by including different characters’ opinions and sides. This can also be seen in Mahfouz’s novel, but Mahfouz mostly uses Said as a catalyst to the readers’ understanding of the3 secondary characters. 

Texts In Translation-Blog Response

Bringing information from culture to culture can always be struggle for any author. Every language differs drastically, making many ideas between translations sisters, but not twins. In these four texts, there are different perspectives taken on the benefits and limitations of translating texts and how that might impact the message received. 

In the text, “Found in Translation” discusses how translation brings not only people but cultures together. It sheds a positive light on novels that are translated, specifically Arabic novels and esteemed authors that transform experiences into everlasting pages in a book. The author is very much aware of the benefits of translation in this article, and personally for me the connection is quite clear to my real life. I feel as though, there are many times when cultures are quite spread out, but to be able to read and understand another culture’s piece of literature is almost as if you are immersing yourself in that atmosphere for the book’s length.

In the text, “Lost in Translation”, it discusses the story of a translator that has gotten much criticism for the translated work he has published. It all started with a collection of poems from an Indian poet, that was then translated in China. The collection off poems consisted of 326 poems, 3 of which caused the controversy. The poet wrote the poems themselves about quite taboo subjects, that had to do with sexual relations. The way that the Chinese translator translated the work, the text came off quite straight up. This did not go down well with the elders as they thought it was white vulgar, whereas with the youth they really enjoyed the translation as they felt it was the first time someone discusses these topic so explicitly. For me, I believe that as long the authenticity and the same message was brought across to the reader that the author intended, the translation should not have been taken off the shelves.

Language is a very complicated process and does not translate accurately across every culture, but when you hit the sweet spot of translation, a whole new world is open for discovery. 

Media Text Inquiry Introductions

Text 1: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/11/opinion/sunday/sick-of-racism-literally.html

 If the text had been written in a different time or place or language or for a different audience, how and why might it differ?

In the opinion column, "We're Sick of Racism, Literally" the author depicts what life as a minority might be like as they are consistently getting discriminated against. The diction that is being used in the headline is a clear depiction of the type of ideology that will be evident in the column. Using diction such as "sick" invites an unwanted mood to the reader suggesting that this column will be asking for a shift in society or raising awareness on this negative issue. Had this have been written at a time when society was much more segregated this column would not have been popular and would stir up much controversy. The information that was used in the article will have much more bias as it will need to do much more persuasion, opposing to something written in the modern era. 

Text 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7_xaOq_lQ0

Which social groups are marginalized, excluded, or silences within the text?

In Tomi Lahren's news report, "Trip to U.S.-Mexican Border", strong language is used to portray a negative message of the situation that is occurring on the borders with families being divided. The blame is heavily placed on one side of the issue and the other side is very much glamorized as being "humanitarian" and not in fault. This marginalizes the group with Mexican decent as it is generalizing them to all be "drug-dealers" and "criminals". This report introduces many examples of bias mainly using, bias by selection and bias by diction. As only one point of view is being shared, the other side of the story is rarely looked at or analyzed making this source heavily leaning towards one side on the political and social spectrum. 

Written Task Intro Paragraphs

1. If the text had been written in a different time or place or language or for a different audience, how and why might it differ?

In the article, "For Women Under 30, Most Occur Outside of Marriage", the authors portray their conservative ideology by the use negative connotations and derogatory diction to portray children outside of marriage or single-mothers as an activity for minorities and those in poverty. The article was written in a time where this is openly discussed. If the article were to have been written before first-wave feminism, it would be very carefully articulated. When giving this article a feminist reading, it can be considered to be anti-feminist as it is using bold and negative diction combined with source control bias to discourage women to be single-mothers. Before, first wave feminism this article would have been much more conservative than it already is. It would not include the ideas of women and be mainly male-dominated and their opinions of this phenomenon. This means that it would contain more bias by source control and bias by selection.

2. Which social groups are marginalized, excluded, or silences within the text?

In the article, "For Women Under 30, Most Occur Outside of Marriage", the authors portray their conservative ideology by the use negative connotations and derogatory diction to portray children outside of marriage or single-mothers as an activity for minorities and those in poverty. The article uses source control throughout as the authors only choose to represent single mothers whose story of raising a child out of wedlock was not successful. This introduces bias to the article and renders the readers a non-holistic view of the issue. This raises the concern of the perspective of different groups that were not represented and were quite important to the discussion. For example, single-fathers. This could really influence the way the text was written as it would create a more balanced discussion.

IOC mini passages

Empathy In, "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

In what ways could this novel specifically develop empathy and emotional intelligence, as well as contribute to the self-awareness of the reader?

In the novel, “Their Eyes Are Watching God”, the reader experiences Janie go through her journey of becoming self-aware. We see her go through learning experiences and discover new parts of herself. In the essay, the main theme was being too self-centered and finding perspective in your life. By reading the essay, I already had a shift in the way I would usually think about the world. I feel as though in this day and age most of this don’t enjoy the daily, “day in day outs”. Many of us, especially people my age are too focused on social media and our phones that we seem to forget the world around us, while walking around disconnected. That is an example of how I became self-aware while reading the essay. When reading the novel, “Thier Eyes Were Watching God”, I wouldn’t describe as it a novel that had this deep effect on the way I view the world. Through the characters though, especially nanny, and hearing her experiences and stories, did allow me to understand how detrimental pre-assumptions can be. My first impression of nanny was that she was a narrow minded elder that would not allow her granddaughter to blossom and learn through experiences and rather just throw her at a man. Later realizing that nanny had plenty of trauma and scarring experiences in her life. This immediately made me question the importance of empathy with whoever I might cross paths with. Seeing as I felt tremendous empathy for the way nanny was trying to raise her daughter, and trying to lead her down a path that was much different than hers. Yes, I don’t agree with the premise of what she was trying to do, marrying her off to a man much older, but who knows what I would have done in that situation. That to me is empathy. That is what will resonate with me till the end. That is what “Their Eyes Were Watching God” has taught me. 

Power of language

In the midst of stressing about school work and university applications, my family and I took a trip to Quebec. Specifically, we went to Quebec city. The city was filled with historic artefacts that I absolutely fell in love with. I explored the city down to its roots and got to know the journey that the Quebecois people took to get to where they are. I learned that the majority of the people living in the province are actually settlers from France. Due to this, French is the primary language in Quebec. My french language education lasted 7 years but still wasn't perfect. This meant that I was more comfortable speaking in english when wanting to ask for directions or any general inquiries. Little did I know this was frowned upon. As I approached an elderly woman with her children, I started speaking english thinking she would understand, as the majority who speak french also speak english, and she looked at me in confusion. I then started tried again in french this time and built up sentences with basic words that I know. As she saw me attempt to speak in french, she started answering my question in fluent english. This exact encounter frequently occurred as we were meeting people. I soon found out that when you initially approach and begin speaking in english, they take offence to the idea that you expect them to speak the english. They intern, out of respect, would rather us attempt to speak in french when approaching. If it is evident that they can’t understand they will then begin speaking in english or guide us to get help. This power dynamic occurs because of the history that Quebec was built around. It was first the French settlers that came in from France and took over the area making “french speaking”. Being the only French speaking province in a mostly English speaking country allowed for the people of Quebec to feel like minorities and powerless due to their language barriers. This leads them to expect that anyone coming in to Quebec should attempt to speak in their native language as I a sign of respect.