Metanarrative suspense in four sensation novels.
Date
2010-12
Authors
Baker, Tanya Fay.
Access rights
Worldwide access.
Access changed 6-21-13.
Access changed 6-21-13.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This thesis explains how sensation novelists Ellen Wood, Charles Reade, Wilkie Collins, and M.E. Braddon use secondary narratives, or metanarratives, as defined by critic Gerard Genette, to create textual suspense. These four novelists use metanarratives that suspend the main narrative and allow the narrator to interact with the reader to foster moral reform or urge the reader to solve the novel's mysteries. Chapters 2 and 3 discuss Wood and Reade's use of metanarratives to fulfill their objective of personal and social moral reform. Chapters 4 and 5 focus on Collins and Braddon's placement of textual clues in metanarratives which help the reader solve mysteries and puzzles while increasing the author's popularity.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
Keywords
Metanarrative., Suspense., Sensation novel., Gerard Genette., Wilkie Collins., Mary Elizabeth Braddon., Ellen Wood., Charles Reade., Moral reform.