Nikesh Narsimulu 9985003203
ENGB05H3
Secondary Source Critique
In a first-person-plural narrative, the narrator delivers the story to the reader using "we". Therefore, no individual speaker is recognized; the narrator is part of a group that acts as one. First-person-plural narratives can be used effectively as a mean to increase the focus on a character or characters in the story. Uri Margolin's published work "Telling in the Plural: From Grammar to Ideology", aims to provide a definition, and a description of plural narrative as well as discuss the role of collective narratives.
Margolin asserts that in order for a "we" narrative to occur, three conditions have to be satisfied. "(a) The argument position in numerous narrative propositions is occupied by an expression designating a group of some kind; (b) the predicate position in these propositions is occupied by predicates that designate the group's holistic attributes or collective actions; (c) the group as such fulfills a range of thematic roles in the narrated sequence" (Margolin 591).
Margolin's insight on the conditions, which allows for a plural narrator, is invaluable as it allows for better understanding of what a "we" narrative consists of. Besides the conditions for plural narratives, the difference between standard and plural narratives has to be established. Not every group of individuals qualifies as plural narrator. In order to succeed, the group must act as a plural "we-group", who is able of forming shared group intentions and acting on them together. A different type of plural narrator can be a community with a shared sense of identity (Margolin 592).
Margolin argues that "we" literary narratives have always been scarce (Margolin 593) which is problematic since many examples of fictional work have a plural narrative; such as, William Faulkner in A Rose for Emily, Frederik Pohl in...