Significance of stream-of-consciousness shooting technique

The significance of stream of consciousness shooting technique: focusing on the irrational, subconscious and intuitive activities of characters.

The term "stream of consciousness" was created by James, a pioneer of American functionalism psychologist, to express the flow characteristics of consciousness. Individual experience consciousness is a unified whole, but the content of consciousness is constantly changing and never static.

Stream-of-consciousness literature generally refers to literary works that focus on describing the flowing state of characters' consciousness. It was introduced into the literary world in 19 18 when May Sinclair commented on Dorothy Richardson's novel Journey. Stream-of-consciousness literature is an important branch of modernist literature, and its main achievements are limited to the field of novels, but also in drama and poetry.

Common technology

1, inner monologue

Under the assumption that no one else is listening, a character directly reveals his feelings and thoughts without scruple, which is an "inner monologue". This is the most commonly used technique in stream-of-consciousness literature. Joyce's Ulysses contains many monologues. Its characteristic is that the author's behavior is completely invisible in the monologue, which is purely the true consciousness of the characters themselves in the novel. This inner monologue is called "direct inner monologue".

There is also an "indirect inner monologue", which describes the inner activities of the characters, but the author comes out from time to time to give directions and explanations. This kind of inner monologue usually shows a shallow level of consciousness, which is more coherent and logical, and its language form is more normal than "direct inner monologue".

2. Internal analysis

The so-called "inner analysis" refers to the narrator or character in the novel's rational analysis and pursuit of his own thoughts and feelings, which is carried out without others listening. The difference between it and "inner monologue" is that it is guided by reason, reasoning or explaining logically and orderly, rather than letting consciousness flow naturally.

This technique is widely used in Proust's Searching for Lost Time. Some researchers in Britain and America categorically deny that Proust is a novelist of stream of consciousness, mainly because his "inner monologue" is only an "inner analysis" of admissibility control, not a completely natural stream of consciousness.