The Found Voice

Writers' Beginnings

Fiction & Literature, Essays & Letters, Essays, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book The Found Voice by Denis Sampson, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Denis Sampson ISBN: 9780191067280
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: May 12, 2016
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Denis Sampson
ISBN: 9780191067280
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: May 12, 2016
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

The Found Voice: Writers' Beginnings uses the means of literary biography and criticism to do something rarely attempted—to understand how a key creative period establishes the authoritative voice of a unique artist. The essays which explore this hidden process of the writer writing focus on some of the major writers of recent times, V.S. Naipaul, J.M. Coetzee, Alice Munro, William Trevor, and Mavis Gallant. The focus of investigation is a single work by each author, and many of them identify the book in which this turning point was reached. The writers have a somewhat different sense of what the voice is, 'a true voice', 'the voice in the mind', 'the writing voice', etc., yet all of them accept the phrase 'finding a voice' as a decisive and necessary process towards a unique style and vision, their raison d'être as artists. These essays allow each one to define his or her sense of the process of writing, and their style is exploratory. Nevertheless, certain patterns emerge, of migration and cultural displacement, of linguistic self-consciousness, of memory and a reimagining of the first home, of absorbing and rejecting mentors and models. Crucially, the essays rely not just on what led up to the moment of creation but on a sense of the career that emerged from it. Most of the writers have written retrospectively in memoirs, interviews or essays about the pivotal work and its foundational significance. They are the best witnesses to the process, although their silence or their commentary is understood in terms of the many strands of the narrative that each essay presents.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Found Voice: Writers' Beginnings uses the means of literary biography and criticism to do something rarely attempted—to understand how a key creative period establishes the authoritative voice of a unique artist. The essays which explore this hidden process of the writer writing focus on some of the major writers of recent times, V.S. Naipaul, J.M. Coetzee, Alice Munro, William Trevor, and Mavis Gallant. The focus of investigation is a single work by each author, and many of them identify the book in which this turning point was reached. The writers have a somewhat different sense of what the voice is, 'a true voice', 'the voice in the mind', 'the writing voice', etc., yet all of them accept the phrase 'finding a voice' as a decisive and necessary process towards a unique style and vision, their raison d'être as artists. These essays allow each one to define his or her sense of the process of writing, and their style is exploratory. Nevertheless, certain patterns emerge, of migration and cultural displacement, of linguistic self-consciousness, of memory and a reimagining of the first home, of absorbing and rejecting mentors and models. Crucially, the essays rely not just on what led up to the moment of creation but on a sense of the career that emerged from it. Most of the writers have written retrospectively in memoirs, interviews or essays about the pivotal work and its foundational significance. They are the best witnesses to the process, although their silence or their commentary is understood in terms of the many strands of the narrative that each essay presents.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book From Taverns to Gastropubs by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book One Century of Karl Jaspers' General Psychopathology by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book How to Write: Successful Essays, Dissertations, and Exams by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book Sparing Civilians by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book Introduction to EU Energy Law by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book The Oxford Dictionary of Plays by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book The EU Common Security and Defence Policy by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book Is That a Big Number? by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book The Politics of Justifying Force by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Corpus Phonology by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book Protestantism: A Very Short Introduction by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book Privity of Contract by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book Shakespeare and the Politics of Commoners by Denis Sampson
Cover of the book Principles of Corporate Finance Law by Denis Sampson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy