{"id":94193,"date":"2021-03-31T17:00:06","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T16:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=94193"},"modified":"2021-03-31T17:03:50","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T16:03:50","slug":"the-written-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.centmagazine.co.uk\/?p=94193","title":{"rendered":"The Written Word"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We all know it…the written word: a form of communication so impactful that it has shaped society, preserved history and provided entertainment, which we may well find via stories and plays. These pieces of literature stay with us, shape our identity. They stay so ingrained in our lives from simple tales to complex fictions. However, sometimes, writing styles and ideas collide and we get more than we expected, a delightful surprise, such as a story within a story, or two styles of writing coming together stylistically hybrid: like letters within a narrative or graphic novel within a novella. In \u2018The Written Word\u2019 <\/em>we explore these stories within stories and these hybrid writing styles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article by Lauren Tighe and Weronika Kusmider.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stories have always been there for us, from the cartoons we may have read as a child, the poems our first love gave to us, or the plays we watch as weekend treats with friends. Our parents used to read us bedtime stories, something so simple, yet powerful enough to put our minds at peace. From something so simple, we moved on in life to more complex stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


These stories usually are based on four types of narrative writing: linear, where the events of the story are presented in the order in which they actually happened, this can be seen in Pride and Prejudice<\/em> by Jane Austen; Non-linear, in this instance, the story is not presented in order, with occasional flashbacks and overlaps of actions as seen for example in The Overstory<\/em> by Richard Powers; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quest, as the name suggests, is a story where the protagonist (leading character) aims to achieve a goal, just like Bilbo Baggins did in J.R.R. Tolkein\u2019s The Hobbit<\/em>; Viewpoint is designed to express the points of view or personal experience of the main or other characters in the story, this can be seen in The Girl on the Train <\/em>by Paula Hawkins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what happens if you combine these styles? Below we discuss books that are hybrids of these styles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beginnings of hybrid literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman<\/em> by Laurence Sterne has changed the world of literature. How? The narrative structure of this book did not follow any tradition nor styles. The main character, Tristian Shandy, cannot explain anything simply. He jumps from one event to another, from one story to the other, just to explain one thing. This is the main joke of the novel. To be able to explain his life, he has to digress through many events in a duel, overlapping plot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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