O caos sistematizado - as quebras de narrativa no romance A vida e as Opiniões do Cavalheiro Tristram Shandy

Abstract

The goal of this study is to do a structural analysis of the work of the Irish author Laurence Sterne (1713-1768), The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, published in 1760 and that was remarkable for representing a true aesthetic revolution in a literary genre that was already renowned on the 18th century in England: the novel. Breaking with the predominant aesthetical notions of the romanesque genre of his time, Sterne shows in his work a shattered narrative, with incomplete, out of order, chapters, endless digressions and a narrator whose trustworthiness is constantly put in question. Starting from the complexity brought by Sterne’s aesthetical innovations, we will investigate various ways by which the author breaks the narrative in his novel. Those breaks have as main goal to provoke in his readers a constant sensation of strangeness and frustration, so that in order to understand Tristram Shandy it is necessary that the reader forgoes a passive reading and starts to work alongside with the author himself, Tristram, so that they may understand the intentions behind Sterne’s shattered and chaotic narrative, which seeks to provoke laughter and reflection, plus revealing a satirical and critic view of the English puritan society of the 18th century. For the analysis of this novel, we will investigate the aesthetical techniques and narratives used by Sterne that seek to cause strangeness and alter the reader’s perception, like the fragmentation of the novel, the changes in the rhythm of the narrative and the process of parody. Furthermore, we will analyse how the laughter is performed through the carnivalization and the erotization, and finally we will discuss a little about the graphical techniques are used by the author to reclaim his authorial property in his work. As our theoretical basis, we will use the studies by Chklovsky (1978), Lotman (1978), Bakhtin (1993), Genette (1995), Reis and Lopes (2000), Aragão (1980), among others. We conclude that the ruptures of the narrative on Sterne’s work aim to create a work able to give to its readers a unique reading experience, revealing a work of powerful criticism and social satire behind its shattered narrative, as well as an extremely critic and innovating sense of humour.