180 Narrating Tarell Alvin Mccraney's the Brother/ Sister Plays

TEXTUAL TURNINGS Department of English Journal of English and comparative Studies Narrating Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brother/ Sister Plays Ebtesam M. M. El Shokrofy Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Damanhour University, Egypt Abstract suspense, poetic justice, ending and closure). Second, they identify pure The Brother/Sister Plays is a trilogy narrative or diegetic features that linger in written by the Afro-American playwright drama (narrative agent, storytelling and Tarell Alvin McCraney.The book includes point of view).Third, they clarify that even three plays written in separate (In The Red mimetic features that are totally dramatic and Brown Water, The Brothers Size, (stage directions and metadramatic Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet).They can elements) can be studied as narrative. The be read and acted either separately or present paper attempts to re- read The collectively like many other trilogies. But Brother/Sister Plays from a narratological unlike most plays, The Brother / Sister perspective, selecting four narrative/ Plays bear a lot of narrative levels that ramatic elements – narrator, storytelling, relate them safely to the art of narratology. stage directions and metadrama – to Although it is not widely accepted as a achieve two goals. First, that the mixture narrative form, drama lies at the core of of narration and performance empowers narratological studies. Depending on the both telling and theatricality and changes different definitions and degrees of the purpose of narration and performance narrativity, writers such as Manfred Jahn, from mere entertainment and fascination Monika Fludernik, Seymour Chatman, to tackling serious issues. Second, the Ansgar Nunning and Roy Sommer, to fusion of narrative techniques into mention few examples, try to apply dramatic actions helps the playwright narrative elements to drama. Their steps dramatize the untold stories of West towards a narratology of drama are three. African Cosmology, involving the First, they state the common literary audience in all cases. devices used in both drama and novel (theme, plot, sub-plot, characters, conflict, Keywords: Diegesis, mimesis, narratology 180 VOLUME 1, 2019 TEXTUAL TURNINGS Department of English Journal of English and comparative Studies Narrating Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brother/ Sister Plays Ebtesam M. M. El Shokrofy characters – is first of all a Lacking the narrative persona, drama narrative. Plays and novels was seen by critics as a non-narrative share the common features of a form. Recently however, this proposition chrono-logic of events, a set of has been questioned by many critics such characters, and a setting. as Seymour Chatman, Manfred Jahn, Therefore, at a fundamental Monika Fludernik, Ansgar Nunning and level they are all stories. The Roy Sommer, and many others. The fact that one kind of story is aforementioned critics adopt a transgeneric told (diegesis) and the other approach to drama considering it as an art shown (mimesis) is secondary of narratology. They moreover contend (117). that all elements in the dramatic text such as the plot, characters, setting, stories, To the same effect, Ansgar Nunning space, and stage directions are considered and Roy Sommer add, "Key terms and narrative. They also regard drama as both core concepts like scene, character, narrative and theatrical genre because protagonist, antagonist, dramatic irony, "plays do not just represent narratives (i.e. suspense, comic relief, point of view, a series of events), they also stage perspective structure, monologue, narratives in that, more often than not, dialogue, exposition, sub plot, poetic they make storytelling, i.e. the act of justice, ending, and closure, to name but a telling narratives, theatrical."(Nunning and few, are used in the analysis of both novels Sommer 337). To theorize the narrativity and plays"(338). Monika Fludernik of drama, these critics list the common stresses the point that both drama and literary elements of both drama and novel. novel are narrative forms, but in a different Then, they argue for the narrativity of sense. "What I find much more interesting drama on the five grounds as stated below […] is the way in which drama and novels by Monika Fludernik. Finally, they can be shown to have adopted each other's maintain that even pure dramatic elements techniques. In my view, this argues like stage directions and metadramatic potently for the basic exchangeability of features (prologue, monologue, epilogue, dramatic and narrative strategies in works songs, dreams, direct address to the of art having narrativity…Readers audience, etc.) can be considered narrative. attribute narrativity to both plays and novels in comparable processes of Concerning common features of aesthetic appreciation" ( 366-7). narration and drama, Seymour Chatman, in his book Coming to Terms, states: The narrativity of drama, even the narrativity of totally dramatic techniques To me, any text that presents a such as stage directions and metadrama, is story – a sequence of events also justified by several critics. In her performed or experienced by article, "Narrative and Drama", Monika VOLUME 1, 2019 181 TEXTUAL TURNINGS Department of English Journal of English and comparative Studies Fludernik summarizes the corner stones of the narrator depends more on his/her narrativity in drama. She distinguishes function than his/her physical presence. between five categories of narrative To the same effect, both Manfred Jahn elements in drama: and Monika Fludernik define the narrator (a) elements that relate to and its function. Manfred Jahn defines the drama 's narrativity, i.e. the narrator as the person "who manages the existence of a fictional world, exposition, who decides what is to be told, of characters, of plot; (b) how it is to be told…and what is to be left elements in the fictional world out. Of course, this is not to deny that a of the play that relate to narrator will often overtly speak or write, narration –messenger reports, establish communicative contact with characters telling one another addressees, defend the tellability of the stories; (c) elements in plays story and comment on its lesson, purpose, that introduce a narrator figure or message" (670). A vivid example is or narratorial frame into the Puck, in Shakespeare's A Midsummer play; (d) elements of plays that Night's Dream, who ends the play with an display a meditational function, epilogue summarizing, commenting, such as prologues and asking the audience about their opinions epilogues or ,if one looks at the and promising them with better dramatic text, stage directions; performances. Drawing on the function of as well as (e) metadramatic the narrator in drama, Monika Fludernik features… (367). comments: "Plays may introduce a narrator persona on stage who functions as For purposes of scope and scale, only a homodiegetic or heterodiegetic narrator four elements from Monika's above figure". Monika illustrates that the quotation will be studied as most homodiegetic narrator can take the applicable to The Brother /Sister Plays. function of the Greek chorus such as plot These elements are; the narrator, summary, action commentary and direct metadrama, stage directions and address to the audience. By addressing the storytelling. Regarding the presence of a audience, the narrator creates an ideal narrator in drama, Seymour Chatman addressee and enables the audience "to see states in different positions in his book, the actors as real people (367-8). Story and Discourse, that the presence of a Discussing the diegetic narrative elements narrative agent is not a must in neither in drama, both Ansgar Nunning and Roy novels nor dramas; even some novels do Sommer add: not employ a narrator. It is up to the author himself to use it or not. Narration mainly Functional characters and the involves a telling through time which can representation of sequences of be achieved without the need of a narrator. events are by no means the Chatman adds that even if there is a only regular elements of drama narrator, it is not necessary for him/her to which can be classified as speak or have a voice at all. The narrator, narrative…The latter include thus, can be either "overt" or "covert". various forms of Chatman also adds that the importance of metalepsis…direct audience address by a narrator character, 182 VOLUME 1, 2019 TEXTUAL TURNINGS Department of English Journal of English and comparative Studies prologue, epilogue, asides, high degree of what we have called soliloquies, and parabasis… diegetic narrativity"(339).This is the core verbal summaries of offstage of the narrativity of drama-how to use action, the play within the play, theatre as a means of telling stories or how mise en abyme, narratives far drama is a narrative form on the ground embedded within dramatic of storytelling. In his book, Coming to action, all kinds of metanarrative Terms, Seymour Chatman speaks about comment, stage directions… drama and novel saying that "at a (340-1). fundamental level they are all stories"(117). Ansgar Nunning and Roy Stage directions are crucial when Sommer state that: "The history of drama discussing the narrativity of drama. is also a history of representing narratives Manfred Jahn insists that any dramatic text and communicating them to live is a narrative one from the very beginning. audiences"(332). They add "A play's text must be read and understood as a piece of narrative fiction before it may Storytelling played a central be used as (and possibly turns to) a recipe role both in classical drama and for performance containing "instructions" in the medieval mystery by the playwright"(672). Structurally, as plays…Long before the Chatman states in his book, Coming to emergence of the novel as the Terms "there is no difference between a dominant narrative genre, sentence in a novel like "John left the narrative experiments were a room" and the playwright's instruction to central feature of stage an actor to exit, stage left" (118).

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