ENG364Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Merriam-Webster, Dana Goodyear, Voyeurism
20th CEnttury Am Lit Lecture 12
Thursday March
Lydia Davis Break it Down
-is this a collection of short stories?
-they feel more like anecdotes
-what do we expect from short stories?
-are they just miniature novels?
-dictionary defs often disagree with each other in subtle ways
-OED says it’s a novelette
-merriam webster says they concentrate on mood rather than plot
-in which category does break it down fit?
-short stories are stories in which something happens or somebody changes
-many of Davis’ stories read like prose poems
-some of her stories are just ideas, and the reader is left to fill in the details
-she is trying to make us participate in writing her stories
-a lot of her stories lie in the work that we do, in envisioning the lead up to the stories,
the stories around the stories
-in break it down, many of her stories don’t follow expected conventions
-but there are some similarities between them
-the protagonists are often female, often set in a nondescript location
-come across as somewhat confessional
-are her stories realistic?
-on a psychological level, yes-they represent a reflection of consciousness
-but they don’t attempt to represent the real world
-some authors attempt to be aggressively real—to process the whole world and give it
back to you
- part of a realistic novel is the irrelevant detail
- ex in stoner, williams tries to give us an impression of all of Stoner’s life
- the great american novel as an idea fed off the idea that a single book could distil the
experience of en entire country
- lydia davis’ aesthetic is radically different
- she gives us what at first to be only a black screen, with minute pinpricks of light, that
only when stared at for a while reveal their infinite depth
- the stories don’t really breath—there are few characters, usually very isolated and
introspective
- but this narrowness creates the feeling of depth
- Dana Goodyear Usually she sets out to answer a single question, and tries to stop
between incomprehensibility (too little detail) and boredom (too much)
- break it down is not only the title of this collection, it is also a way of reading them
- we can also export this strategy when reading other kinds of writing
- Story: I am trying to learn
- a meditation on identity, how people can be totally different but still the same
person
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Document Summary
Dictionary defs often disagree with each other in subtle ways. Merriam webster says they concentrate on mood rather than plot. Short stories are stories in which (cid:1688)something happens or somebody changes(cid:1689) Many of davis" stories read like prose poems. Some of her stories are just ideas, and the reader is left to fill in the details. She is trying to make us participate in writing her stories. A lot of her stories lie in the work that we do, in envisioning the lead up to the stories, the stories around the stories. In break it down, many of her stories don"t follow expected conventions. The protagonists are often female, often set in a nondescript location. Some authors attempt to be aggressively real to process the whole world and give it back to you. Part of a realistic novel is the (cid:1688)irrelevant(cid:1689) detail. Ex in stoner, williams tries to give us an impression of all of stoner"s life.
