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"'tis by Comparison we can Judge and Chuse [sic!]" : Incomparable Oroonoko

Class, Monika LU orcid (2022) In English and American Literary Studies p.125-148
Abstract
This interpretation of Aphra Behn's novella follows a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach by analysing the operations of comparability and incomparability within the emplotment based on Paul Ricoeur’s theory of triple mimesis (Time and Narrative Vol. 1). This concept presupposes that readerly embodiment plays a vital role in the signification process that results from the encounter of readers and texts. Focusing on the notion of emplotment, the chapter showcases how narrative does not only synthesise heterogeneity (concordance) but also generates pathos and emotionality through sudden reversals in the hero's fate (discordance). That discordance outweighs concordance in the case of Oroonoko underpins the present argument about the... (More)
This interpretation of Aphra Behn's novella follows a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach by analysing the operations of comparability and incomparability within the emplotment based on Paul Ricoeur’s theory of triple mimesis (Time and Narrative Vol. 1). This concept presupposes that readerly embodiment plays a vital role in the signification process that results from the encounter of readers and texts. Focusing on the notion of emplotment, the chapter showcases how narrative does not only synthesise heterogeneity (concordance) but also generates pathos and emotionality through sudden reversals in the hero's fate (discordance). That discordance outweighs concordance in the case of Oroonoko underpins the present argument about the dynamics of comparability and incomparability. The chapter contends that three reversals in the narrative suspend comparability momentarily, emphasise the hero’s action and suffering irrespective of narratorial commentary, and, in doing so, recalibrate otherwise Eurocentric analogies inherent in the novella. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Early novel in English, Comparability, Slavery, Surinam, Caribbean history, Narrative theory, Aphra Behn, Affect and emotion, Paul Ricœur, Critique and postcritique, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
host publication
Comparative Practices : Literature, Language, and Culture in Britain’s Long Eighteenth Century - Literature, Language, and Culture in Britain’s Long Eighteenth Century
series title
English and American Literary Studies
editor
Nadine, Böhm-Schnitker and Marcus, Hartner
pages
24 pages
publisher
Transcript-Verlag
ISBN
978-3-8394-5799-3
78-3-8376-5799-9
DOI
10.14361/9783839457993
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
cf7817af-be54-44b3-a768-df080f97f4a4
date added to LUP
2022-09-10 14:24:25
date last changed
2023-07-29 03:09:12
@inbook{cf7817af-be54-44b3-a768-df080f97f4a4,
  abstract     = {{This interpretation of Aphra Behn's novella follows a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach by analysing the operations of comparability and incomparability within the emplotment based on Paul Ricoeur’s theory of triple mimesis (Time and Narrative Vol. 1). This concept presupposes that readerly embodiment plays a vital role in the signification process that results from the encounter of readers and texts. Focusing on the notion of emplotment, the chapter showcases how narrative does not only synthesise heterogeneity (concordance) but also generates pathos and emotionality through sudden reversals in the hero's fate (discordance). That discordance outweighs concordance in the case of Oroonoko underpins the present argument about the dynamics of comparability and incomparability. The chapter contends that three reversals in the narrative suspend comparability momentarily, emphasise the hero’s action and suffering irrespective of narratorial commentary, and, in doing so, recalibrate otherwise Eurocentric analogies inherent in the novella.}},
  author       = {{Class, Monika}},
  booktitle    = {{Comparative Practices : Literature, Language, and Culture in Britain’s Long Eighteenth Century}},
  editor       = {{Nadine, Böhm-Schnitker and Marcus, Hartner}},
  isbn         = {{978-3-8394-5799-3}},
  keywords     = {{Early novel in English; Comparability; Slavery; Surinam; Caribbean history; Narrative theory; Aphra Behn; Affect and emotion; Paul Ricœur; Critique and postcritique; seventeenth and eighteenth centuries}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  pages        = {{125--148}},
  publisher    = {{Transcript-Verlag}},
  series       = {{English and American Literary Studies}},
  title        = {{"'tis by Comparison we can Judge and Chuse [sic!]" : Incomparable Oroonoko}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.14361/9783839457993}},
  doi          = {{10.14361/9783839457993}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}