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Infinite Jest’s Voice(s)

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Pia Masiero    Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Italia    

Adriano Ardovino    Università degli Studi “G. D’Annunzio” Chieti-Pescara, Italia    

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abstract

We often refer to a book as having a voice that sounds uniquely distinctive, a voice that stays with us after a book is over. Voice is a key narratological term; together with its twin partner – focalization – it constitutes the skeleton of a given storyworld. The first – experiential – conception of voice is difficult to grasp and articulate and has something to do with a specific tonality we perceive in a direct, almost visceral way. The second – scholarly – produces a host of definitional moves, which tend to crystallize it in a dominant mode of articulating a story. “Infinite Jest’s Voice(s)” aims to bridge the two conceptions of voice just sketched, trying to give the sense of the book’s having a distinctive, unforgettable, voice as far as the reader’s experience is concerned.

Published
March 16, 2022
Accepted
Nov. 21, 2021
Submitted
Dec. 9, 2021
Language
EN

Keywords: Infinite JestDavid Foster WallaceMadame PsychosisNarratorVoiceJoelle van Dyne

Copyright: © 2021 Pia Masiero, Adriano Ardovino. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.