How exciting does that sound? I was dicking around today, reading some of the things I’ve written for MFA classes, and stumbled on this bit of oddness. I thought to myself, ‘who the hell would want to read that?’ So here it is–the first in what may become a series of short, ill-concieved essays from MFA discussion boards–an experiment to see if there is anyone out there who actually wants to read this crap.
A Brief History of Point of View
When reading Alan Cheuse’s essay, I was struck with the same realization as his writer friend; that I had never considered point of view as having ‘origins’ suddenly troubled me. Of course, when language was originally developed for communicative purposes, the idea of a first and second and third person, in both singular and plural forms was necessary, and subsequently as literature came into being, progressed and changed over the ensuing years the idea grew and grew. I suppose this comes from the idea of the Burkean parlor; I entered the discussion so far into the game that the idea of forming the different vantage points was old news, and the different aspects currently occupying the hot spots of the discussion took the front burners. What strikes me so thoroughly about this is going back and reading my own recent work and realizing that I was not the least bit conscious of my calamitous floating between various modes of the third person. Especially since the workshop story I am turning in this week, fresh off a few days of break before yet another draft tonight benefits greatly (as I see it) from sticking close in the third person and not drifting into the minds of other characters.
I also had not made the connection between the camera’s gaze and POV. I spent two years in film school, and in doing so spent lots of time studying, discussing and critiquing what we called ‘gaze’ in those classes, effectively learning point of view in another medium without ever realizing it. Specifically, the idea of filmmaker as ‘auteur’ (to use the French film term), as compared to the modernist novelist breaking the fourth wall Cheuse spoke of is an intriguing way of looking at point of view. The reader is conscious that the narrative voice is actually that of the author, but suspends disbelief in giving that voice to the narrative character (and in some cases giving it back to the author) just as the moviegoer knows that the director/cinematographer chose what the camera shows and what it doesn’t, but suspends disbelief in giving the view to the narrative eye of the film.
P.S. I’m too lazy too look through my books and find the Alan Cheuse essay. If anyone does care, just ask. I’ll find it somewhere.
P.P.S. The keyword suggesting software I use, which is admittedly rather pathetic to begin with, read this entire entry and returned one suggestion–crap.