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Copyright and Use of This Thesis This Thesis Must Be Used in Accordance with the Provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 COPYRIGHT AND USE OF THIS THESIS This thesis must be used in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction of material protected by copyright may be an infringement of copyright and copyright owners may be entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. Section 51 (2) of the Copyright Act permits an authorized officer of a university library or archives to provide a copy (by communication or otherwise) of an unpublished thesis kept in the library or archives, to a person who satisfies the authorized officer that he or she requires the reproduction for the purposes of research or study. The Copyright Act grants the creator of a work a number of moral rights, specifically the right of attribution, the right against false attribution and the right of integrity. You may infringe the author’s moral rights if you: - fail to acknowledge the author of this thesis if you quote sections from the work - attribute this thesis to another author - subject this thesis to derogatory treatment which may prejudice the author’s reputation For further information contact the University’s Director of Copyright Services sydney.edu.au/copyright MAPPING NONFICTION NARRATIVE: Towards a new theoretical approach to analysing literary journalism William Roberts Supervisor Dr Fiona Giles Associate Supervisor Dr Megan Le Masurier A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Media and Communications The University of Sydney 11 April 2014 Statement of Originality I declare that the thesis presented here is my own original work and has not been submitted to any other institution for the award of a degree. Signed: ___________________________________________________________________________ Date: Friday 11 April 2014 ___________________________________________________________________________ I Abstract Thomas B. Connery states that ‘Although much has been written about a type of writing that contains elements of journalism and fiction, consensus has not emerged as to what to call it or how to define it.’1 This thesis addresses this issue by proposing a broad theoretical framework and approach for defining and analysing a wide variety of books in the genre, using David L. Eason’s typology of realist literary journalism (RLJ) and modernist literary journalism (MLJ). This is the first time that Eason’s theory has been applied in close readings of literary journalism texts. Rather than being two distinct subgenres, Eason’s categories of RLJ and MLJ are two ‘modes’ of responding to and organising the experience of reporting, which narrate highly personalised, interpretive and evocative accounts of reality. However, due to the widely differing aesthetic styles and approaches found in this genre, these categories have been refined and supplemented using Joseph M. Webb’s theory of rationalism and romanticism in journalism. This thesis combines Eason and Webb’s theories to create a spectrum—ranging from ‘objective’ to ‘subjective’—in order to locate the six primary texts analysed in this thesis, depending on how influenced they are by either rationalism or romanticism. This is another original contribution made by this thesis. Norman Sims argues that many literary journalism theorists and critics have based their scholarship of the genre on literary criticism and theory, and warns that ‘We must be careful that our scholarship does not mimic that of one sector of the 1 Thomas B. Connery, “Discovering a Literary Form,” in A Sourcebook of American Literary Journalism: Representative Writers in an Emerging Genre, ed. Thomas B. Connery (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1992), 3. II Abstract academy.’2 Although the interpretive methodology used in this thesis is textual analysis, this thesis makes use of Anabela Carvalho’s critical discourse analysis, developed for close readings of media texts, because it offers strategies to ensure the factual referentiality of the six primary texts is respected, and the analyses are informed by key contextual factors. Also, the close readings draw heavily from the interdisciplinary subfield of narratology, so Risto Kunelius’ narrative perspective on journalistic discourse is adopted in order to provide a focused and systematic approach to the narratological analysis of the six primary texts. Literary journalism is an evolving genre that resists narrow definitions.3 Accordingly, the methodology applied in this thesis is flexible and broad so that it can be applied to virtually any text in this genre, yet still be a useful tool for analysing the unique characteristics of each text in detail. The innovate combination of Eason’s typology as refined by Webb, with the reading practices of Carvalho and Kunelius offers an original, inclusive and flexible means to explore the in many ways still uncharted territory of literary journalism. 2 Norman Sims, “The Problem and the Promise of Literary Journalism Studies,” Literary Journalism Studies, vol. 1, no. 1 (Spring 2009), 8. 3 Norman Sims, “The Art of Literary Journalism,” in Literary Journalism: A New Collection of the Best American Nonfiction, eds. Norman Sims and Mark Kramer (New York: Ballantine Books, Inc., 1995), 9. III Acknowledgements To my supervisor, Dr. Fiona Giles, who has been a constant source of encouragement, support and inspiration throughout this project. Not only would I never have had the courage to write a doctoral thesis in the first place with her care and generosity, I would never have completed it either. Also, to Dr. Megan Le Masurier for her conscientious associate supervision; and Professor Gerard Goggin for the feedback and advice he gave me at crucial moments during this process. The Department of Media and Communications, and Penny O’Donnell in particular, for organising the Research in Conversation Seminars, which provided a collegiate environment in which my peers and I could discuss and support each other with our projects. Arlene Harvey, for proofing the final draft of this dissertation, in accordance with The University of Sydney ‘Proof-reading and Editing of Theses and Dissertations’ policy (2004). Dad, who has given me everything I ever needed and helped me in more ways than he’d ever choose to admit. And finally, to my beautiful wife Clare, whom for me the sun rises and sets… IV Abbreviations CDA Critical Discourse Analysis CN Character-bound Narrator CTP Close Third Person DOC Distant Observation of a Character EN External Narrator FIP Free Indirect Prose IA Implied Author MLJ Modernist Literary Journalism RLJ Realist Literary Journalism TA Textual Analysis 1st PP First-Person Perspective 2nd PP Second-Person Perspective 3rd PP Third-Person Perspective V Contents STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I ABSTRACT II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV ABBREVIATIONS V INTRODUCTION 1 PART I: FOUNDATIONAL SECTION LITERATURE REVIEW 11 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK & APPROACH 38 METHOD 52 PART II: REALIST LITERARY JOURNALISM DAVID SIMON'S HOMICIDE 64 THOMAS KENEALLY'S SCHINDLER’S ARK 93 FRANCISCO GOLDMAN'S THE ART OF POLITICAL MURDER 117 PART III: MODERNIST LITERARY JOURNALISM HELEN GARNER'S THE FIRST STONE 144 SCOTT RAAB'S THE WHORE OF AKRON 168 WILLIAM T. VOLLMANN'S RIDING TOWARD EVERYWHERE 187 CONCLUSION 209 BIBLIOGRAPHY 215 Introduction Literary journalism, according to Nancy L. Roberts, ‘aims to be factual while using the techniques commonly associated with literary writing, particularly literary fiction—all in the service of illuminating a larger or “literary” truth about human existence.’ 4 Although there are differing claims about the origins of literary journalism, Iona Italia traces it to periodical writing in the 18th century. She observes that the major features of the genre ‘were influenced by the desires of periodical writers to shake off journalism’s disreputable image…[by]…securing a measure of literary respectability…’5 and that writers set out to achieve this by introducing the language and plots of the sentimental novel.6 Around the same time, realist novelists such as Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding and Tobias Smollett were writing stories that claimed to be factual, which produced in their readers ‘a characteristic uncertainty or ambivalence as to whether they were reading something true or false.’7 Lennard J. Davis explains how, as a result of this confusion, new genres such as history, journalism and fiction were created so that the public could identify what sort of narrative they were reading.8 As John C. Hartsock notes, in its early stages literary journalism defied definitive identification with any particular generic category and subsequently became critically marginalised because it constitutes a dynamic narrative process working across a narrative spectrum, with one end merging with conventional journalism and 4 Nancy L. Roberts, “Literary Journalism,” in Encyclopedia of American Journalism, ed. Stephen L. Vaughn, (New York: Routledge, 2008), 270. 5 Iona Italia, The Rise of Literary Journalism in the Eighteenth Century: Anxious Employment (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2005), 7. 6 Italia, The Rise of Literary Journalism in the Eighteenth Century, 177. 7 Lennard J. Davis, Factual Fictions: The Origins of the English Novel (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996), 36. 8 Davis, Factual Fictions, 37. 1 CHAPTER 1: Introduction ‘the other merging into solipsistic memoir and overt fiction.’ 9 Two major developments in journalism and literature at the end of the 19th century compounded this issue, effectively ensuring that the genre would be widely
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