"'tis by Comparison we can Judge and Chuse [sic!]" : Incomparable Oroonoko
(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:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/cf7817af-be54-44b3-a768-df080f97f4a4
- author
- Class, Monika LU
- publishing date
- 2022-03-26
- 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}}, }