Saturday, August 31, 2019

The unreliable narrator

Hello fellow amphibians of the pond. Today we shall explore the concept of the unreliable narrator, which is a concept defined first 1961 by Wayne C. Both in The Rhetoric of Fiction, and which means a story told from someone whose credibility is seriously compromised. 


The unreliable narrator is a concept that is one of the pillars of postmodern literature, and when reading about the concept I realize how many of my favorite books that uses this type of storytelling , but it’s not until very recently that I feel that the unreliable narrator now rules the world.


For simplicity let us say that only the first person perspective can be used for this prompt, even though it can probably be done in other perspectives as well.


There are different types of unreliable narrators, but both in literature and there are many classifications, but what is common is that we know, sooner or later, that the story is compromised. This is not necessarily the same as the narrator lying, we just realize that we cannot trust the person telling the story, but still he fascinates and we cannot turn away and  just continue to listen. 


If this has been a strong trend in fiction, the same cannot be said for poetry. Poetry always has to be honest, and even if the poet sometimes lies, we can always trust his or her honesty.


Maybe this is a good thing, truth is better than lies, but one of the things with writing to prompts is to leave your comfort zone, and after all we cannot avoid listening to the liar, the madman, the braggart or the clown.


Today I want you to become an unreliable narrator. Tell me a story that is not yours, exaggerate and lie, but think a bit on how to expose yourself. Should you make it apparent from the start, should you gradually let it seep in, or should you reveal it as a twist at the end.


Baron von Münchhausen was a definitely an unreliable narrator


Also remember there can be many truths hidden behind the unreliable narrator. I did for instance feel the horrors from the bombings of Dresden even if was shown through the voice Billy Pilgrim; I never believed young Alex in a Clockwork Orange, but his story exposed a dystopian society better than a truthful narrative would ever do.


A poem is not a novel, so I am very curious how you will meet this challenge in a fairly short poem. I know that a few of you will love this prompt while others will just hate it, but at least it’s not Physics this time.







18 comments:

Kim M. Russell said...

Good afternoon amphibious poets and thank you Bjorn for a challenging prompt! I'm not sure what you're expecting, but I hope my narrator is unreliable.

brudberg said...

Hello all.. I have not written anything myself yet... and I don't know where it will lead. But I will come back later

Kerry O'Connor said...

A great challenge, Bjorn. I am not much one for narrative poetry, but I do like the angle you present here. Thanks for making us think outside the box.

Jim said...

This will be fun for me !!!
Thank you Bjorn.
..

Vivian Zems said...

Love this prompt, Björn!

brudberg said...

I hope that I will find more great things here tomorrow... at least I managed to write a brief one.

Linda Lee Lyberg said...

Hello Bjorn and all- Thanks for a challenging prompt. I am working on something and will post in the morning. Have a great evening!

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I have been intrigued by the unreliable narrator poem, Bjorn. I am at a family gathering today, so will visit everyone this evening.thanks for this.

Revived Writer said...

I would like to try this. So far, others' poems have been fascinating!

Helen said...

This is a fascinating challenge .....

tonispencer said...

So many people and things to write about!

Linda Lee Lyberg said...

Okay, posted. Let's see if you believe me or not!

Lori said...

Gave it a whirl. Tried to draw the reader in.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Loved the prompt, Bjorn! I wrote what came to mind and added Gothic elements to the narrative poem, hope it does justice to the prompt ❤️

The Bizza said...

I know I'm super late, but this is my favorite trope. I had to put something together. :)

Susie Clevenger said...

I wrote from my dark side. :) Thanks for the prompt!

peterfrankiswrites.wordpress.com said...

thought-provoking prompt, thanks bjorn. Have added my unreliable contribution, and look forward to reading others.

Margaret said...

...at least it's not physics. Ha ha. I find this intriguing - I have been absent from the pond this week - just an unbelievably busy week for various reasons and I DO hope to come back to this and a few recent prompts I missed. I still have to visit and comment on the last two I participated in! So I'm off to do that first and then join up today (Wednesday) with the Garden. Thanks for the effort put into this prompt.