114

Stream of Consciousness Techniaue

Stream of Consciousness Technique

The wave of experimentation which characterised tbe earIy twentietb eentu- " ry powerfuHy influenced tbe noveI. Tbe traditional form ceased to satisfY. Naturalism appeared a spem foree, a meehanical imitation rather than imaginative grasp. The chronological presentation of a story, witb its orderIy sequence of events in a well-made pIot, and tbe extemal characterization, lost significance.
The desire to find new developments in novel writing was stimulated by tbe influence of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), tbe founder ofpsychoanalysis. .~ His smdies led to a new concept of the mind and to f' tbe discovery of the power of tbe unconseious, "the true, psyehic realit}''', henee the necessit}' to analyse'l consciousness more and more deeply, and tbe aware- .:

ness that there is no objective reality besides tbe indi,;dual and tbe sum ofhis personal experiences.

flux and infinite change of the inner life, so tbat re- ~ ality cannot be objectively given but is subjectively~,' perceived through consciousness. In his PrinciplesoJ .~ Ps)'cholog)' (1890) he wrote: "Consciousness [u.]. flows.A "river"or a "stream"are the metaphors by ., ~
which it is most naturalI}' described. In talking ofit

An important contribution carne from tbe,:~ American psychoIogistWilliamJames (18421910) .~ Henry Jarnes's brotber who spoke of the endIess

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hereafter, let us calI it tbe stream ofthought, of con- :" sciousness, or of subjective life." As a consequence, I
tbe present does not really exist; the only reality is
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tbe individuaI consciousness where past and future

constantI)' fio\\"into each otber.

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WilliamJames's definition appealed to writers, and it was adopted to denote the new narrative tech-, ", nique destined to be so effectively used by Joyce.; To tbe contributions of psychology must be added the new concept of time introduced by the'. French philosopher Henri Bergson (1859-1941). The most original aspect of bis thought is tbe con- '" cept of duration. Bergson disringuished between tbe matbematical time of science - e.g. one minute con-

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sists of 60" and each minute equals tbe other - and , the time of the mind, which is Iived in a personal way

Sigmund Freud by A. Warhol

and changes from one person to another, or from one situation to another. In otber terms, tbe time necessary to boil sQme water is tbe scientific time, but" tbe time tbat tbe person waits for tbe water to boil is-'; tbe rime of spiritual experience, and is always different. Bergson called tbis second rime "duration".

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The influence

of alI these -- concepts

on character

analysis and presentation was remarkabie. As Professor Daiches wrote, "The truth about a character is the sum of

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whole emotional experience, and that sum is always i>_ there, pervading and indeed constituting his conscious"

nesso It is not therefore necessary to take a character through a series of testing circumstances to reveal the

~; whoIe human truth about him; the proper exploration of his consciousness at any given moment or in a very short
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space oftime (say a single day) could reveal aHhis history

and all his potentialities. Il;< fiWriters Iike Renry James, Joseph Conrad and R.L. ~, Stevenson had aiready presented some reIeyant anticipa" tions of the changes to come: the disappearance of the

omniscient narrator, the shift in focalization, the narration in retrospect. But even earIier, an interesting exam!>-.'.
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--.pIe of narrative
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based on the fIow of a character's

thoughts was provided by the Russian Fyodor Dostaevski (1821-1881) in the

short star)' Lettersfrom the Underworld (1864) . .~ Marce! Proust (1871-1922) in France claimed that a novelist's aim '\;. shouId be to reveal the author-hero's past and hidden self. In his most famous noveI, A la recherchedu temps perdu (Remembrance ofThings Past, 1913) he de~ scribes not what the hero's life has been, but ",hat the hero remembers of it,
_

his vision of il. The idea conveyed is that the past is contained in the present

I!-and is part of it. A11impression, a sensation, brings to 'le surface emotions of l!; the pasto This is what he called the theory of recollection, of emotional memor}', according to which he sought out and lived the past over again. [...] in una giornata d'inverno, rientrando a casa, mia madre, vedendomi in-

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~,;; freddolito, mi propose di prendere, contradamente alla mia abitudine, un po' di t. ~ Rifiutai dapprima, e poi, non so perch mutai d'avviso. Ella mand a prendere una di

l quelle focacce pienotte e corte chiamate maddalenine, che paiono aver avuto per ~, stampo la valva scanalata d'una conchiglia- di San Giacomo. Ed ecco, macchinalI~nel ":?mento

~: mente, oppresso dalla giornata grigia e dalla prospetva d'un uiste domani, portai ~;~ alle labbra un cucchiaino di t in cui avevo inzuppato un pezzetto di maddalena. Ma
stesso che quel ~or~omist~ a brici~le ~i fo<:acc.iacocc i~~io pa~ato,
f" trasalll, attento a quanto avvem\<l m me dI straordmano. Un pIacere delizIoso m ave~ va invaso, isolato, senza nozione della sua caU5a. '\1' aveva subito reso indifferen le vicissitUdini della \ita, le sue calamit inoffensive, la sua bre\it illusoria, nel modo

~: stesso che agisce l'amore, colmandomi d'un'essenza preziosa: o meglio quest' essen~ za non era in me, era me stesso. Avevo cessato di senrmi mediocre, contingente, !;f'mortale. Donde m'era potuta venire quella gioia ,iolenta? Sentivo ch'era legata al sapore del t e della focaccia, ma lo sorpassava incommensurabilmente, non dove"<l t" essere dcUa stessa natura. Donde veniva? Che significava? Dove affen'arla? [...]
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E ad un tratto il ricordo m' apparso, Quel sapore era quello del pezzetto di

!:. maddalena che la domenica mattina a (;ombray (giacch quel giorno non uscivo pri_f>,,~ ma della messa), quando andavo a salutarla nella sua camer<l, la zia Lonie mi offdva ~ dopo aver] o b:Jgnato nel suo infuso di t o di tiglio. La "i sta della focaccia, plima d'as,!< saggiarla, non m'aveva dcordato niente; forse perch, avendone ,iste spesso in se_~ wito. senza manv.arle. sui vassoi dei pasticceri, la loro immagine ave\<llasciato quei
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giorn'i di Combr';;. per unirsi ad altri giorni pi recen; forse perch di quei Iicordi

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Stream of Consciousness Technique

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prawiveva, tutto s'era disgregato; le forme

cos a lungo abbandonati fuori dalla memoria, niente soe anche quella della conchiglietta di pasta, cos grassamente sensuale sotto la sua veste a pieghe severa e devota erano abolite, o, son-

nacchiose, avevano perduto la forza di espansione che anebbe loro permesso di raggiungere la coscienza. Ma quando niente sussiste d'un passato antico, dopo la morte degli esseri, dopo la distruzione delle cose, soli, pi tenui ma pi "i\idi, pi immateriali, pi persistenti, pi fedeli, l'odore e il sapore, lungo tempo ancora perdurano, come delle anime, a ricordare, ad attendere, a sperare, sopra la rmina di tutto il resto, portando sulla loro stilla quasi impalpabile, senza vacillare, l'immenso edificio del ricordo.
[trom ),f. Prousc, Alla 11= dd tempo perduto - La stmda di 511)(1nl1, Torino, Einaudi 1946]

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a:. L~:te.-~o~~a:de fe;me.~1917'~

The analogy with Joyce's epiphany is evident. There are numerous elements of comparison between the two "Titers: the concern with sequences of consciousness, the relation between the characters and time, the relationship between art and life.

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The ne ed to go deeper and dee per into the analysis of the mind of the characters, the "internal" perspective, imposed the creation of a prose style appropriate 10 convey the complexities and the fragmentations of thought, the swiftpassing from one idea to another for free-association, and tbe appareny illogical and capricious work.ingsofthe mind. This is how the soliloquylike "stream of consciousness" or "internal monologue" technique was boro.1 Tbe first novelist in English literature who attempted the new technique was Dorothy Richarclson (1837-1957). In the most imponant of her novels, Pointed Rooft (1915), she attempted to define character in terms of that character's thoughts, to catch the fIow of life recording impressons from moment to momento Similarly, Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) wrote novels made out of her characters' moments ofperception.
She had reached the Park2 gates. She stood for a moment, looking at the omnibuses in Piccadilly. She would not say of any one in the world now that they were this or were that. She felt \"ery young; at the same time unspeakably aged. She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same rime was outside, looking on. She had a perpetuaI sense, as she watched the taxicabs, ofbeing out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was ver)', ver)" dangerous to live even one day. Not that she thought herself dever, or much out of the ordinar)". Ho\\' she had got through life on
1. This is what Professor ies distinguish between Grav"Tites: .Some erit-

stream of eonsciousnes.~

and incerior monologue, prefcrring te use tbe_ lattcr to refer to the striet attempt to reproduee the fio\\" of eonsciousness in a character's mind, \\itboUt incen"ention by tbe autbor, and perhaps e\"en \\;tbout grammar or logical de\'elopment.

In pracricc the tcnns are usually interchangeable." The same concept is expressed by an established linguist, Professor Fowlcr, who speaks of tbe technique "known as strcam or consciousness or interna) mono)ogue". 2. Park: Hyde Park, a large public park in centr,d London.

L.:Stream of Consciousness Techniaue

the few twigs of knowledge FrauJein Daniels3 ga\-e them she could not think. She knew nothing; no language, no history; she scarcely read a book. now,except memoirs in bed; and yet to her it was absolutely absorbing; alI this; the cabs passing; and she would not say ofPeter4, she wou1dnot say ofherself, I aro this, I am that. Her on1r gift wasknowing people almost by insllct, she thought, walking on. If vou put her in a room with some one, up went her back 1ikea cat's; or she purred. De~''Onshire House, Bath House, the house \\ith the china cockato05, she had seen them '-;'2!llit up once; and remembered Syhia, Fred, Sally Seton6 such hostS ofpeople; and

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dancing alInight;and the waggonsplodding pastto market;and drhing home across

1;, the Park. She remembered once thrmdng a shilling into the Serpentine. But every one remembered; what she lo\'ed was this, here, now, in front ofher; the fat lady in the cab. Did it matter then, she asked herself, walking towards Bond Street, did it matter ?i-;that she must ine,itably cease completely; alI this illust go on without her; did she resent it; or did it not become consoling to believe that death ended absoluteIy?
[from \'. \\'oolf, JJrs Dal/owlI)", Penguin 3. Fraulein Daniels: her gO\"emess when she was yery young. 4. Peter: a former suitar. 5. Devonslre House, Bath House, the house with the china cockatoo: Popular Classics, 1996]

houses where sJle used

to spend her holidays in the past. 6. Sylvia, Fred, SalIy Seton: friends of past nmes.

But the ",!iter who used the new style with the most brilliant results and became dosely associated with it isJamesJoyce (1882-1941). He based his experimentation on the assumption that nobody thinks in complete, well-organised sentences; the thought forrns in the mind without a syntactic shape, and we "translate" it into words and sentences to make it intelligible to others.Joyce wanted to convey the thoughts and feelings as they form in the mind, hence the twisted and disrupted syntaX, the sudden, abrupt passages from one topie to another, from third perso n to first person, the uneompleted sentences, and the referent not aIways being dear. As a result "we seem to enter directly, without authorial intervention, into the flux and muddle of the characters" actual thoughts, and the novel moves insinuatingly trom descriptions of characters, into their minds, and out again. "(Prof. Robert Bamard). In Westland l'o,,"he halted before the \\indow of the Belfast and OrientaI Tea Company and read the legends of leadpapered packets: choice blend, finest quality, famil}'tea. Ratber warm. Tea. Must get some from Tom Keman. COldn't ask him at a funeral, though. ''''bile his eyes stin read blandIy he took offhis hat quieti}' inhaIing his hairoil and sent his right hand with slo\\' grace over his brow and hair. Very warm moming. Under their dropped lids his eyes found the tin}' bow of tbe leather headband inside his high grade ha. Just there. His right hand carne down into the bowl of his hat. His fingers found quickIy a card behind the headband and u-ansferred it to his waistcoat pocket. So warm. His right hand once more more sIowIywem oyer again: choice bIend, made of the finest CeyIon brands. The far east. Lovelyspot it must be: the garden of the world, big Iaz}'leaves to float about on, cactuses, flowery meads, snaky Iianas tbe)" call them. Wonder is it like that. Those Cinghalese lobbing around in the sun, in dolce far niente.~ot doing a hand's tum alI da~: SIeep six months out of tweh-e.Too hot to quarrel. Influence of the climate. Lethargy. Flowers of idleness. The air feeds most. Azotes. Hotbouse in Botanic gardens. Sensitive plantS. Waterlilies. Petals too tired to. Sleeping sickness in the air. Walk on rose-Ieaves. Imagine u:ing tO eat tripe and

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a Stream of Consciousness Techniaue

cowheeI. Where was the chap I sali' in that picture somell'here? Ah, in the dead sea, floang on his back, reading a book "ith a parasol open. Couldn't sink if you tried: so thick with salt. Because the weight of the ",ater, no, the weight of the body in the water is equal to the weight of the. Or is it the volume is equal of the weight? It's a law something like that. Vance in High school cracking his fingeIjoints, teaching. Tbe college curriculum. Cracking cUlTiculum. What is weight reallywhen you say the weight? Thirtytwo feet per second, per secondo Law of falling bodies: per second, per secondo They ali fall to the ground. The earth. It's the force of gravity ofthe earth is the weight.
[fromJamesjoyce, u~rsses, episode 5, Penguin Books, 1995]

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Here the reader is inside Bloom's mind. The narrator has disappeared, and the reader shares the continuous present of the character's consciousnesso

The Sound

and the Fury by William

Faulkner

(1929)

The $ound and the Fury deals wiChche degeneracion of CheCompsons. once a prominenC southem family fram Mississippi. The nove! is divided into four parts. each dealing with the evenCs of o single day We ore introduced into the story of the fami/y chrough Che Choughts of one of the sons. the idiot Benjamin_ The fol/owing passage conveys the considerations of the mother on her own fomi/y

what have I done to have been given chi]dren like these Benjamin was punishment enough and now for herI to have no more regard for me her own mother l've suffered for her dreamed and planned and sacrificed I went down into tbe valle)' yet never since she opened her eyes has she given me one unselfish thought at mes I look at her I wonder if she can be my child exceptJason he has never given me one moment's SOlTOW since I first held him in my anns I knew then that he was to be my joy and my saIvation I thought that Benjamin was punishment enough for any sins I have committed I thought he was my punishment l'or putting aside my pride and man"}ing a man who held himself above me I don't complain I loved him above alI of them because of it because

1.her: Candace, herdaughterwho, pregnant, has been married off lOa man who is nOlme famer of her child. Thc other three children of the Compsons are Benjamin, Quentin,jason.

my duty though Jason pulling at my heart alI the while bUt I see now that I have not suffered enough I see no", that I must pay for your sins as well as mine what have you don e what sins have your high and mighty people visited upon me but you'lI take up for them vou own ., always ha\'e found excuses for vour , blood onlyJason can do \\Tong because he is more Bascomb2 than Compson while your own daughter my little daughter my baby giri she is she is no better than that when I was a giri I was unfortunate I was only a Bascomb I was taught tbat there is no half-way ground that a woman is either a lady or not but I never dreamed when r held her in my arms that any daughter of mine could let herself don't you kno\\' I can look at her eyes and tell you may tbink she' d tell you but she doesn't tell things she is secreve you don 't know her I kno\\' things she's done tbat l'd die before l' d have you know that's it go on criticize Ja-

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-2. Bascomb: the name of Mrs Bascomb 's native famil)'.

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Stream of Consciousness Technique

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After Joyce's bold experime~tation some critics thought that it was possible to explain Laurence Sterne's eccemricities in a different ""'faY: he might have brilliandy anticipated the stream of consciousness technique, and in Tristram Shand)' he might have been trying to reproduce the capricious workings of the mind tracing strange signs on the pages, leaving entire pages blank, etc. Strearn of consciousness writers bave not permanently changed the way of writing novels, and novelists who carne after them used traditional storytelling methods. However, as an innovator Joyce in unparalleled in the range ofhis achievemenfS, and Ulyssesradiated much further influence. .Arnong the writers who show dose acquaintance ,vithJoyce's devlces it is worth remembering Williarn Faullmer,John Dos Passos, J.D. Salinger, and Saul Bellow in America. Symbolic overtones can often be found in the work of Graham Greene, Christopher Ishenvood, Willliarn Golding, and Iris Murdoch.

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son accuse me of setting him to watch her as if it were a crime while your own daughter 'can I know you don't love him that you wish .to believe faults against him you never have Jes ridicule him as you always have Maurr you cannot hurt me an)' more than youl' chilJiren already have and then l'Il be gone and ~ason with no one to love him shield him Trom this I look at him every day dreading to see this Compson blood beginning to show .~nhim at last widl his sister slipping out to see ~what do you calI it then have you ever laid " "eyes on him will you even let me try to find '-':)mt who he is it's not for myself I couldn't
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'1:bear to see him it's for your sake to protecr

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= ".youbut who can fight against bad blood you i':,,,on't let me t:rywe are to sit back ,...ith our -;;hands folded while she not only drags your .'name in the dirt but COITUptsthe ver)' ail' 1:yourchildl'en breathe Jason you must let me ~'goaway I cannot stand it let me have Jason ;:and you keep the othel's they're not my flesh :and blood like he is strangers nothing of imine and I am afraid of them I can take Ja'son and go where we are not known l'n go . down on my knees and pray for the absolu5,2tion of my sins that he may escape this cul'se
[William Faulkner, The Modero T/Il!Sound and t/U!Fu,..,' &' As Ilay dyillg, Pan II, LibraI}, New lrk, 1946]

,='>;to try to forget that the others everwere

_ "1be/ieve that man will not merely endure; he will prevail. He is immortal. not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice. but because he has a soul. a spirit copoble of compassion and sacrifice and endurance. The poe(s. the writer's duty is to write about these things... . (from his speech delivered in StocklOlm. when he received the Nobel prize for Literoture. 7949). One of the greotest American writers. William Faulkner (7897-7962) experienced the tragedy of World Wor I ond the sense of olienation thot it involved. but he never become on expotriote 05 Hemingway did. Faulkner was a man from the South. and it was the South !Nhichprovided the inspiration far his works. He created o Mississippi community - Yoknapatawpha County - in which he put the characters he observed. and mode this region represent a world. His appeal became universol: he wrote of conflicts of generations. of sociol classes. of races. of meno ond of good and evil in man himself The passoge you hove read is an example of his ,'nnol/atll/e literary cechniques. whlch recall what Joyce was doing in Ulysses.

'''3. Maury: Mrs Compson's

brother.
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