{"product_id":"the-one-vs-the-many-9780691113142","title":"The One vs. the Many","description":"\u003cp\u003eDoes a novel focus on one life or many? Alex Woloch uses this simple question to develop a powerful new theory of the realist novel, based on how narratives distribute limited attention among a crowded field of characters. His argument has important implications for both literary studies and narrative theory.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Characterization has long been a troubled and neglected problem within literary theory. Through close readings of such novels as \u003ci\u003ePride and Prejudice\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eGreat Expectations\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eLe Père Goriot\u003c\/i\u003e, Woloch demonstrates that the representation of any character takes place within a shifting field of narrative attention and obscurity. Each individual--whether the central figure or a radically subordinated one--emerges as a character only through his or her distinct and contingent space within the narrative as a whole. The \"character-space,\" as Woloch defines it, marks the dramatic interaction between an implied person and his or her delimited position within a narrative structure. The organization of, and clashes between, many character-spaces within a single narrative totality is essential to the novel's very achievement and concerns, striking at issues central to narrative poetics, the aesthetics of realism, and the dynamics of literary representation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Woloch's discussion of character-space allows for a different history of the novel and a new definition of characterization itself. By making the implied person indispensable to our understanding of literary form, this book offers a forward-looking avenue for contemporary narrative theory.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Alex Woloch","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42955752570998,"sku":"9780691113142","price":53.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0671\/1374\/6550\/files\/CoreSourceHub_f0575d0f-867b-4542-9fef-a29483881820.jpg?v=1777755645","url":"https:\/\/ingramacademic.com\/products\/the-one-vs-the-many-9780691113142","provider":"Ingram Academic \u0026 Professional","version":"1.0","type":"link"}