Narrative techniques in Wole Soyinka's the interpreters

Abstract

This study is a critical analysis of the techniques of narrative crafting used by Wole Soyinka in his novel; The Interpreters. Its main thrust is therefore the isolation and discussion of the elements of the artistic framework upon which the narrative is based. The endeavor starts by accounting for the independence of the artistic aim of the author in writing the text despite the fact that the novel serves other extra-artistic purposes. Through analyses of plot, characterization and narrator positions, the study narrows down to a discussion of the artistic positions of the author within these three basic narrative variables. An examination of the various artistic strategies employed to create a multiplicity of fictional figures and their attendant scenes and backgrounds is what these divisions of the study target. The study therefore is giving express priority to the artfulness of The Interpreters whose content is seen as presenting an artistic function as its basic end. It is this primacy of the artistic theme that this study dwells upon. In conclusion the study intends to ascertain that, despite the fact that the novel can be used for philosophical, religious or psychological arguments, it nonetheless has its own artistic meaning which is a statement of the author's skill and from which the novel draws its autonomy as a unique art form.