Verbal Narration

While the second chapter of Style in Narrative addressed authorial canon (scope) and story (level), the third chapter considers a single work (scope) and narration (level). Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying seems to present a straightforward case of multiple narration. However, attention to details reveals that the novel is much more complex and apparently contradictory. In other words, the narrational style is marked by ambiguity and hints of untrustworthiness, along with unresolved issues of narrator definition (including, for example, hints that Addie could be in effect narrating the entire novel). The chapter shows not only the relevance of narration to style (and of stylistic analysis to narration), but the relevance of indeterminacy and ambivalence to style (and stylistic analysis) as well. The chapter concludes by examining some thematic implications of these features of narrational style and what they may suggest about Faulkner’s relation to American literature and literary modernism.

Story Structure

The second chapter of Style in Narrative illustrates and extends the general theory developed in chapter 1. Specifically, it addresses the level of story structure and the scope of an authorial canon. In connection with this, it considers William Shakespeare’s complex relation to genre, examining the way in which he thoroughly integrates genres, rather than simply adding storylines with different genre affiliations. The presence of such integration in Shakespeare’s works has frequently been noted, but critics have rarely sought to explain it in detail. In order to explore the topic more thoroughly, the chapter focuses on two plays, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. To clarify what is specifically Shakespearean in these works, Hogan examines the former in relation to Shakespeare’s sources for the play and the latter in relation to a precursor revenge drama, Thomas Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy.

Introduction

The introduction to Style in Narrative sets out some of the main principles for the description and explanation of style, principles that will be developed and specified in the following chapters. In keeping with Hogan’s earlier work, the introduction stresses the importance of emotion to the function of style and of affective science for the understanding of style. Hogan goes on to explain the meaning of “cognitive-affective stylistics” and its difference from Stanley Fish’s influential notion of “affective stylistics.” The introduction also briefly outlines the overall structure of the book, the content of the following chapters, and the reasons for the topics treated in those chapters.

Visual Narration

Chapter 7 of Style in Narrative parallels chapter 3 in taking up the level of narrational style for the scope of a single work. However, in this case, the narration at issue is visual rather than verbal. In connection with this, the chapter considers an important argument in film studies about point-of-view (PoV) shots. For some time, film theorists took PoV shots to foster identification with the character whose point of view was depicted. Cognitive film theorists argued forcefully that identification was much more likely with the target of observation than with the perspective of the camera. Hogan’s contention here is that, though the cognitivists’ argument is largely correct, there can be some significant emotional effects of PoV editing, especially when it involves certain sorts of camera movement. These effects can be understood by reference to neuroscientific research on embodiment. Lu’s film presents a virtual catalog of the types and emotional functions of PoV shots, also illustrating many of their possible thematic consequences.

Film Style

The fourth chapter of Style in Narrative turns from literature to cinema. Since a great deal of style is common to both literature and film, this chapter is necessarily shorter than its counterpart (chapter 1). Moreover, it focuses on the differences between literary and film style, thus what is not common to the two. The areas of divergence are principally a matter of the medium or perceptual interface. In consequence, the chapter focuses particularly on the visual and aural aspects of film. On the other hand, these aspects are more encompassing than is sometimes recognized, including for example aspects of narration. It also addresses differences in the authorship of films, and the status of Hollywood “continuity editing” as a broad stylistic norm for which there is no parallel in literature. The chapter ends with some brief comments on the way James Franco, in his film adaptation of As I Lay Dying, dealt with the (relatively underdiscussed) levels of perceptual narration and cinematic emplotment.

Literary Style

Style has often been understood both too broadly and too narrowly. In consequence, it has not defined a psychologically coherent area of study. In this chapter, Hogan first defines style so as to make possible a consistent and systematic theoretical account of the topic in relation to cognitive and affective science. This definition stresses that style varies by both scope and level—thus, the range of text or texts that may share a style (from a single passage to a historical period) and the components of a work that might involve a shared style (including story, narration, and verbalization). This chapter also addresses a second question—what purposes are served by style? There are three key functions of style: 1) the shaping of story understanding, 2) the communication of thematic concerns (i.e., concerns that extend beyond the work to values in the world), and 3) the arousal and modulation of emotion. Hogan illustrates the main points of this chapter by reference to literary works, prominently Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.

Keep Stylistics Great

A good deal of the most valuable current work in stylistics concerns political topics. However, politics is not a focus of Style in Narrative. Hogan therefore devotes this brief afterword to suggesting that the book’s approach to stylistic analysis may potentially enrich political analysis. Specifically, recalling Roman Jakobson’s famous analysis of the Dwight Eisenhower campaign slogan, “I Like Ike,” Hogan considers the levels of story, plot, and narration in Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” in part by contrast with Hillary Clinton’s “I’m With Her.” Contrary to what one would expect from Trump’s policies, the slogan shows considerable subtlety, which can be identified and explained by careful, stylistic analysis.

Stylistic Choices in Graphic Narrative

The final chapter of Style in Narrative turns to graphic fiction. Much of what one might say about style in graphic narrative is already covered by the treatments of literary and film style earlier in the book. However, some unique aspects of graphic narrative style remain. In this chapter, Hogan identifies some of the distinctive stylistic components of graphic narrative, illustrating and expanding these by reference to Art Spiegelman’s Maus. A key feature of this chapter is systematizing the analysis of graphic fiction by reference to the various stylistic levels (storyworld, story, plot, narration, and perceptual interface) and their functions (narrative exposition, communication of themes, and the cultivation of emotional effects). Lack of clarity about these distinctions has sometimes led to theoretical problems in the analyses of graphic fiction proposed by influential theorists of the medium.

Emplotment

The sixth chapter of Style in Narrative in part parallels the second chapter, but shifts from the story (what happens) to plot (the representation of what happens—its selection, emphasis, and construal). Specifically, Ozu is notorious for the elliptical quality of his plots, which sometimes entirely skip culminating events. He is also well known for certain sorts of “excess” (e.g., lingering on empty rooms). Hogan argues that these features have not been adequately explained or even adequately described. They can be understood only by relating them to their emotional function—modulating the arousal component of emotion. The chapter also considers what is valid and what is invalid in connecting Ozu’s stylistic practices with Japanese culture and aesthetic tradition.

Perceptual Interface and Painterly Cinema

The fifth chapter of Style in Narrative in part parallels the second chapter, but with a shift from literature to cinema. Specifically, it takes genre as its scope, though it considers genre in visual representation, rather than story structure. Moreover, in this case, it focuses on an unusual genre, one that is not widely identified as a genre—painterly films, which is to say, films that draw their visual models from non-cinematic forms of visual art. The chapter presents an account of the kinds and functions of painterly film, ranging from mere allusion through imitation of a period or movement, to the cultivation of broader sensitivities characteristic of painting beyond a specific period. This chapter considers works by Luis Buñuel, Éric Rohmer, Deepa Mehta, and M. F. Husain. It focuses particularly on Robert Rodriguez’s remediation of graphic fiction, in part to prepare the way for the treatment of graphic fiction later in the book.