Polyphony in Texts : Introducing Literature Module 2

 Polyphony, the term is closely associated to music, it is the method of combining a number of things simultaneously. In literature polyphony is a feature of narrative which includes diversity of points of view in a text. The concept was introduced in literature by a Russian literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin.

 

What is Point of view?

There are different points of view from which a story can be narrated. If the story is told from the point of view of the author himself , we can say that the story is narrated in the first-person point of view. 

 

In First person point of view,  the writer (or fictional narrator) relates information from his/her perspective. Perhaps they’re telling a story from their past, or maybe they’re giving you their opinion. If the main pronoun in a text is ‘I,’ there’s a good chance you’re dealing with something written in the first person.

 

 

Some notable examples:

 

1- Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

"I lay down on the grass, which was very short and soft, where I slept sounder than ever I remember to have done in my life, and, as I reckoned, above nine hours; for when I awaked, it was just daylight. I attempted to rise, but was not able to stir: for as I happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and legs were strongly fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the same manner.

 

 

2- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

"I have told you, reader, that I had learnt to love Mr. Rochester: I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that he had ceased to notice me--because I might pass hours in his presence, and he would never once turn his eyes in my direction--because I saw all his attentions appropriated by a great lady,

 

 

Second Person Point of View

 

 

The second point-of-view essentially makes the reader or viewer a character in the narrative to draw them into the story. The narrative is written from their point of view and addresses them at the same time.

 

Example:

1    1-  Italo Calvino’s If on a Winter's Night a Traveler begins like this

“You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino’s new novel, If on a winter’s night a traveler. Relax. Concentrate. Dispel every other thought. Let the world around you fade.”

 

 

Third Person Point of View

In third-person point of view, the author is narrating a story about the characters, referring to them by name, or using the third-person pronouns “he,” “she,” and “they.”

 

Third-person omniscient point of view. The omniscient narrator knows everything about the story and its characters. This narrator can enter anyone’s mind, move freely through time, and give the reader their own opinions and observations as well as those of the characters. For example, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is told from a third-person omniscient point of view, giving the reader full access to the main character, Elizabeth, as well as the characters others around her.

 Examples:

1- "He is just what a young man ought to be," said she, "sensible, good humoured, lively; - 

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

 

2 - "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." - George Orwell, 1984

 

3- "He drank an Anis at the bar and looked at the people. They were all waiting reasonably for the train. He went out through the bead curtain. She was sitting at the table and smiled at him." - Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants"