Construction of Self: Narrating Minds in Two Novels of Adam Retta.
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Date
2021-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This dissertation examines the construction of self in two Amharic novels of Adam Retta, ―Yesinibit Kelemat‖ (2016) and ―Merek‖ (2017). The main objective of the study then, is to examine the relationship between life story and construction of self, thereby understand and gain more insight into the processes of self construction in the context of fictional characters. In order to accomplish this objective, I tried to review relevant literature in relation to self, narrative and plot. Moreover, the social constructionists approach to narrative and self, together with a theory of plot structure, has laid the foundation for the study‘s theoretical framework, which made it interdisciplinary by its nature as it draws concepts from literary theory and narrative identity theory in social psychology. Social constructionism contends that self is defined through a continuous process of narrative construction in social contexts. My research uses this premise as a starting point and asks how the character-narrators in these novels attempt to organize their life experiences into coherent self-narratives to define themselves. Then an attempt is made to perform a textual analysis on five selected self narratives from the two novels in accordance with the reviewed literature and theoretical framework by focusing on dominant stories constituted by important life events and their organization into a coherent life story in order to define the self. The findings indicate that dominant stories are frequently found to be problem-loaded with three recurring experiences, i.e., the physical body, suffering and relationships, which are found to be fertile grounds from which the characters draw a strong sense of selves. Beginnings of the narrative texts provided hints on specific points that the narrating subjects want to accentuate on, while chronological beginnings shed light on familial influences on identity. Multiple flashbacks also situate some of the self narratives with beginnings ―in medias res‖, which in most cases served as indicators of the following chaotic life story with conflicting selves and identity struggles. Endings, on the other hand, gave some of the self-narratives definite conclusions, while leaving others open, designating the ongoing nature of identity work. In addition to this, turning points in characters‘ life involved surprising incidents which, usually, are followed by profound shifts in identity. Besides this, identity changes are mainly triggered by influences from significant others, followed by sudden and enlightening realizations about the self. In conclusion, the self narratives demonstrated how self-construction is an ongoing social narrative practice and not something to be settled once and for all.
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