Title: Speech and silence: Secret languages of the oppressedSubmitted by: Heather Curnow, honours student, University of Tasmania, AustraliaThe novel Saman unfolds through interior monologue, reverie and projection, magic realism, third person narrative, letters, first person accounts, e-mail correspondence and parables. I will suggest in my paper that we, as readers, are participants in a four-way interaction between author / text / reader / and the characters who often intervene by speaking directly in an author-driven passage. The reader is given clear signals to the "ownership" of the text by the use of icons, italic glosses, or unmarked transitions from third to first person narrative. I will also draw attention to the presence of "secret languages" as modes of escaping from or subverting conventional female roles. I will argue that eventually the lack of straightforward communication between male and female characters in the novel Saman, and of conflicting or unspoken agendas, creates misunderstandings and poisons even the most promising relationships in the novel. Return to Abstracts menuCarol Burnett Phone: 61 - 3 - 9349 1899 Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
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