The stream of consciousness is one of the literary devices that portrays human experiences “from within”, directly as a single and multifaceted process. The deliberate use of this technique was demonstrated in the novels of L. Stern, Senankur, the stories of Chateaubriand, the poem “Mtsyri” by Lermontov.
Method Features
The stream of consciousness in literature is primarily a technique of the era of modernism and postmodernism. It includes a description of the spiritual life of the heroes, their experiences, associations. This method claims to directly reproduce the inner world of the hero. The stream of consciousness allows you to create the impression that the reader "eavesdrops" on the thoughts of the characters, which allows him to penetrate their intimate experiences.
This technique also includes the presentation of those features that cannot be expressed in verbal ways alone. A similar effect is achieved through two methods - narration and citation. At the same time, experiences and associations interrupt one another, similar to what usually happens in dreams.
The narrative method, as a rule, consists of various sentences that sequentially acquaint the reader with the emotional and psychological characteristics of a particular hero of the work. The internal monologue, as a rule, is a direct quotation of the character’s speech. However, it is not necessarily quoted. A full understanding of the hero’s stream of consciousness is possible only when a state is reached when the text is read “between the lines”.
Transformation of reception in the work of Stendhal
The most widely used method of consciousness flow in literature was Stendhal, one of the greatest realists of the 19th century. He modified and complicated the main functions of the image of the mental activity of the character. If earlier it was a romantic emotional “confession”, then in his works Stendhal replaced it with an “internal monologue”, an exalted first-person narrative. The stream of consciousness of the character, thus, increases the artistic effectiveness of the work. Having turned into an internal monologue, this technique allows in a more relaxed form to show the inner world of the hero.
Method in the work of Tolstoy
Following Stendhal, L. N. Tolstoy continued to use the reception of the stream of consciousness in literature. He was able, with amazing skill, to simultaneously describe the "dialectic of the soul" of his characters and current political events. Tolstoy mastered at the highest level practically all forms of the “internal speech” of the character - a monologue, an improperly direct speech.
An example of a stream of consciousness in literature can be the condition of Anna Karenina before committing suicide. Tolstoy conveys a frantic kaleidoscope of images arising in her mind. Each of them serves for the emergence of new, deeply personal associations.
Where was the technique used for the first time?
But what are the philosophical and literary sources of the stream of consciousness? The most ancient work in which this technique was used was Ovid's Metamorphoses. And also one of the earliest attempts to use this technique is either suddenly interrupted, then repeated “internal monologue” by Anna Karenina. Elements of this method are also present in the works of F. Dostoevsky, V. Larbo.
In particular, this technique received widespread popularity in later literature. The stream of consciousness in the literature of the XX century is displayed in the works of W. Wulf, M. Proust, G. Stein. The reception has become popular in the cinema. The most characteristic of his representatives who used this technique were I. Bergman, F. Fellini. This technique began to be widely used in psychology and philosophy.
The stream of consciousness in the literature of modernism, represented by the already mentioned W. Wolfe, M. Proust, as well as D. Joyce, is used as the main narrative tool. This technique consists in showing a person from his inner perspective, as if isolated from the social part of being. At the same time, thoughts, feelings, unconscious impulses are accurately recorded. Briefly, the stream of consciousness in the literature can be described as follows: it allows you to describe the mental process in the form of a "stream", "river".
Reception in the works of Proust
For example, M. Proust is building a multi-volume series of novels entitled “In Search of Lost Time”. It highlights the endless flow of memories of the main character about the life lived. This narrative does not obey the generally accepted laws of logic. It is presented in the form of a chain of purely personal associations of the hero caused by completely different external events.
For example, the hero of the work only at that moment was able to remember his past in sufficient detail, when, quite unexpectedly, over a cup of tea, he tasted the cookies he loved in childhood. The taste of Madeleine cookies is a push that has sparked a number of associations. And this idea allows the hero to mentally relive the real life, the one that is left behind. Proust, as one of the authors of the stream of consciousness in literature, shows this association as something even more elevated than life itself.
Opinion of V. Nabokov
The method of flow of consciousness is one of the best ways to convey the psychologism of a work. However, Vladimir Nabokov notes that yet he is imperfect. The writer cites the following considerations as arguments. Firstly, this method is not more realistic than the rest. Also, it is not more “scientific”. In his opinion, the stream of consciousness is nothing more than a stylistic convention. A person thinks not only with words, but also with images. But the transition from words to imaginary images is fixed by words only if there is no description in the text. Secondly, Nabokov notes, some thoughts of a person suddenly come and disappear in the same way. In this case, as if "settle" in the mind. The drawback of reproducing thoughts in writing is the blurring of time and the overly large role that is assigned to the printed sign, the writer emphasizes.
In the works of J. Joyce
Significantly influenced the development of this technique and J. Joyce. He expanded his existing capabilities and added new elements. Among them, it is worth noting the monologues of the character in a direct and indirect form. Joyce was able to further deepen the flow of consciousness in the work. In this case, the pre-speech level of consciousness of the actor is revealed. The novelty of Joyce's writing style was the description of various states of consciousness of the hero: falling asleep, daydreaming, intoxication. Joyce used special punctuation when the text is filled with interjections, exclamation marks, monosyllables. In some cases, the writer intentionally violated the laws of grammar. In portraying character experiences in his works, Joyce used alliterations, incomplete phrases, and sentences. The writer also conveys all kinds of sensory perceptions - acoustic, tactile, taste and others.
Novelty in applying the Joyce method
Innovation in the works of Joyce was also a specific image of the movement of an unconscious hero. One of the most characteristic examples is the Molly Bloom monologue, which can be read in the last episode of Ulysses: the stream of consciousness here is transmitted as the stream of everyday life of the inner world of an ordinary woman.
But unlike the endless stream of Proust’s recollections, the real and imaginary worlds mix here. Molly's fantasies are closely intertwined with reflections on the most mundane things and events. To adequately depict the character’s thought movement, Joyce uses special punctuation to reproduce the inconsistent movement of the heroine’s psychological world. One thought in accordance with the law of association replaces another.
In the work of Faulkner
One of the features of the flow of consciousness in Faulkner in his work “Noise and Rage” is the reproduction of the consciousness of a mentally retarded character. The monologue is built taking into account the characteristics of the state of his psyche. In some cases, the stream of thoughts is devoid of logic, it does not show cause-effect relationships. In this work, Faulkner presents two more streams of consciousness of other actors. But they are indicated by a destructive image of reality. Immersion in their unconscious is a way to show non-obvious motives, psychological complexes and injuries. Thus, this technique by Faulkner reflects the tragedy of the existence of the main characters.
In artistic terms, this appears through a special depiction of time: this is its inevitable sequence from the past to the future, the irreversibility of the committed actions. As R. Humphrey rightly notes, one of the main characteristics of the stream of consciousness in Faulkner’s work is “attempts at consciousness to isolate the hero from the collapsing reality”. Characters are unable to survive the tragic events that have occurred and to rethink them in any way.
The stream of consciousness in the works of Miller
The method of the stream of consciousness in foreign literature and in the work of G. Miller is presented. He is a representative of the postmodern era. Miller does not deny the influence of Proust and Joyce on his texts. But at the same time he criticizes the philosophical system of these authors.
G. Miller’s stream of consciousness demonstrates the emergence of the basic qualities of postmodern sensitivity. According to some researchers, Miller is the forerunner of postmodernism in literature. The main features of his works are total irony, an appeal to the worldview of Buddhism and Zen Buddhism.
Miller's works are largely autobiographical, so the writer conveys the flow of the inner world of one actor. But at the same time, he uses different angles and stylistic characteristics, which allows you to display various states of the hero. For example, the hero’s memories are often accompanied by jargon, and sometimes obscene words.
The stream of consciousness is one of the most important methods for constructing the text of writers of the modernist era. Its purpose is to create the illusion of reality, immersing the reader in the atmosphere of the work, similar to how it happens when considering the paintings of impressionist artists.