THE INTEGRATED SHORT STORY COLLECTION AS A GENRE
Abstract
This dissertation defines the genre of integrated short story collections and applies the definition to selected contemporary examples, Updike's Pigeon Feathers, Barth's Lost in the Funhouse, and Fowles' The Ebony Tower. Through brief examinations of selected genre members from ancient times up to the twentieth century, this study determines first that the component short narratives comprise an element of continuity within the genre; second, that the genre stands between the epic or novel and the unorganized collection by virtue of its structure; third, that a definition and classification derived from and applicable to examples from all periods of literary history can be developed; and fourth, that the continuity of the genre is expressed in both structural and occasionally thematic terms. Part One, devoted to genre theory, presents arguments against the modernity of the short story, revealing that aside from the usual presentation of the modern story as a fiction, the components of integrated collections differ from each other not in form but in emphasis. The organization of integrated story collections separates the genre from more cohesive narratives such as the novel and less cohesive assemblages of stories. Furthermore, drawing on examples from all periods, the definition of the genre stresses two elements: the centripetal forces, which frame the collection explicitly and/or implicitly, and the centrifugal forces, which dissociate the individual stories. In addition, the structure of integrated collections suggests the genre divides into closed and open classifications based on tonal and thematic characteristics. The section on theory closes with a study of the continuity of the genre, demonstrated in three groups of examples from ancient to modern times. The application of theory of the genre in Part Two consists of close readings of three quite different collections, Pigeon Feathers, Lost in the Funhouse, and The Ebony Tower, for their explicit and implicit frames (narrative patterns, themes, settings), and for their centrifugal forces. The dissertation concludes with comparison of these three works with each other and to the definition of the genre, testifying to its continuity and to its evolution.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Linguistics
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