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Short story cycle

May 08, 2024

A short story cycle (sometimes referred to as a story sequence or composite novel)[1] is a collection of short stories in which the narratives are specifically composed and arranged with the goal of creating an enhanced or different experience when reading the group as a whole as opposed to its individual parts.[2] Short story cycles are different from novels because the parts that would make up the chapters can all stand alone as short stories, each individually containing a beginning, middle and conclusion. When read as a group there is a tension created between the ideas of the individual stories, often showing changes that have occurred over time or highlighting the conflict between two opposing concepts or thoughts.[3] Because of this dynamic, the stories need to have an awareness of what the other stories accomplish; therefore, cycles are usually written with the express purpose of creating a cycle as opposed to being gathered and arranged later.[4]

Definitional debates edit

See also: Short story collection

Scholars have pointed out that there is a wide range of possibilities that fall between simple collections and novels in their most-commonly understood form. One question is how well the stories stand up individually: chapters of a novel usually cannot stand alone, whereas stories in collections are meant to be fully independent. But many books have combined stories in such a way that the stories have varying degrees of interdependence, and it is these variations that cause problems in definition. Maggie Dunn and Ann Morris, for instance, claim that the stories in a story cycle are more independent than those in a composite novel,[5] and James Nagel points out that both cycle and sequence are misleading, since cycle implies circularity and sequence implies temporal linearity, neither of which he finds to be essential to most such collections.[6] Rolf Lundén has suggested four types of cycles, in order of decreasing unity: the cycle, in which the ending resolves the conflicts brought up at the beginning (e.g., The Bridge of San Luis Rey); the sequence, in which each story is linked to the ones before it but without a cumulative story that ties everything together (e.g., The Unvanquished); the cluster, in which the links between stories are not always made obvious and in which the discontinuity between them is more significant than their unity (e.g., Go Down, Moses); and the novella, in the classical sense of a collection of unrelated stories brought together by a frame story and a narrator(s) (e.g., Winesburg, Ohio). [All examples are Lundén's.][7] Robert M. Luscher compares and contrasts the short story cycle and science fiction short stories combined into longer fixups.[8]

History edit

In their study of the genre, Maggie Dunn and Ann Morris note that the form descends from two different traditions: There are texts that are themselves assembled from other texts, such as the way the tales from the Arthurian cycle are compiled in books by Chretien de Troyes, Wolfram von Eschenbach, Thomas Malory and the Mabinogion. Then there are the classic serialized novellas, many of them with frame stories; this genre includes One Thousand and One Nights, The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales, etc. Dunn and Morris show how in the nineteenth century, the genre appeared in such forms as the village sketch collection (e.g., Our Village) and the patchwork collection (e.g., Louisa May Alcott's Aunt Jo's Scrap-Bag).[9]

J. Gerald Kennedy describes the proliferation of the genre in the twentieth century, attributing it in part to the desire "to renounce the organizing authority of an omniscient narrator, asserting instead a variety of voices or perspectives reflective of the radical subjectivity of modern experience. Kennedy finds this proliferation in keeping with modernism and its use of fragmentation, juxtaposition and simultaneism to reflect the "multiplicity" that he believed to characterize that century.[10] Scholars such as James Nagel and Rocío G. Davis have pointed out that the story cycle has been very popular among ethnic U.S. authors. Davis argues that ethnic writers find the format useful "as a metaphor for the fragmentation and multiplicity of ethnic lives" insofar as it highlights "the subjectivity of experience and understanding" by allowing "multiple impressionistic perspectives and fragmentation of simple linear history".[11]

The composite novel edit

Dunn and Morris list several methods that authors use to provide unity to the collection as a whole. It has to be noted that these organising principles pertain to their theory of the composite novel as a short story collection where the focus lies on the coherent whole. (the examples are theirs): The organising principles

Multiple of these organizing principles may be used in order to create a composite novel.

Titles using cycle technique edit

References edit

  1. ^ Scholars are still debating the differences between these terms; see Nagel's introduction for an overview of the discussion.
  2. ^ Mann, Susan (1989). The Short Story Cycle. New York: Greenwood Press. p. 12. ISBN 0-313-25081-2.
  3. ^ Mann p.11
  4. ^ Lynch, Gerald (2001). The One and the Many: English-Canadian Short Story Cycles. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. xv. doi:10.3138/9781442681941. ISBN 0-8020-3511-6.
  5. ^ Dunn and Morris p.5
  6. ^ Nagel, James (2001). The Contemporary American Short-Story Cycle: The Ethnic Resonance of Genre. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. p. 13. ISBN 0-8071-2660-8.
  7. ^ Lundén, Rolf (1999). The United Stories of America: Studies in the Short Story Composite. Rodopi. pp. 37–38. ISBN 978-90-420-0692-8.
  8. ^ Luscher, Robert M. (2012). "The American Short-Story Cycle". In Bendixen, Alfred (ed.). A Companion to the American Novel. Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture. Vol. 80. John Wiley & Sons. p. 370. ISBN 9781405101196.
  9. ^ Dunn, Maggie; Ann Morris (1995). The Composite Novel: The Short Story Cycle in Transition. Twayne Publishers; Macmillan. ISBN 0-8057-0966-5.
  10. ^ Kennedy, J. Gerald, ed. (1995). Modern American Short Story Sequences: Composite Fictions and Fictive Communities. Cambridge University Press. p. x-xi. ISBN 0-521-43010-0.
  11. ^ Davis, Rocío G. (1997). "Identity in Community in Ethnic Short Story Cycles". In Julie Brown (ed.). Ethnicity and the American Short Story. New York: Garland. pp. 3–23. ISBN 0-8153-2105-8.

May 08, 2024
short, story, cycle, short, story, cycle, sometimes, referred, story, sequence, composite, novel, collection, short, stories, which, narratives, specifically, composed, arranged, with, goal, creating, enhanced, different, experience, when, reading, group, whol. A short story cycle sometimes referred to as a story sequence or composite novel 1 is a collection of short stories in which the narratives are specifically composed and arranged with the goal of creating an enhanced or different experience when reading the group as a whole as opposed to its individual parts 2 Short story cycles are different from novels because the parts that would make up the chapters can all stand alone as short stories each individually containing a beginning middle and conclusion When read as a group there is a tension created between the ideas of the individual stories often showing changes that have occurred over time or highlighting the conflict between two opposing concepts or thoughts 3 Because of this dynamic the stories need to have an awareness of what the other stories accomplish therefore cycles are usually written with the express purpose of creating a cycle as opposed to being gathered and arranged later 4 Contents 1 Definitional debates 2 History 3 The composite novel 4 Titles using cycle technique 5 ReferencesDefinitional debates editSee also Short story collection Scholars have pointed out that there is a wide range of possibilities that fall between simple collections and novels in their most commonly understood form One question is how well the stories stand up individually chapters of a novel usually cannot stand alone whereas stories in collections are meant to be fully independent But many books have combined stories in such a way that the stories have varying degrees of interdependence and it is these variations that cause problems in definition Maggie Dunn and Ann Morris for instance claim that the stories in a story cycle are more independent than those in a composite novel 5 and James Nagel points out that both cycle and sequence are misleading since cycle implies circularity and sequence implies temporal linearity neither of which he finds to be essential to most such collections 6 Rolf Lunden has suggested four types of cycles in order of decreasing unity the cycle in which the ending resolves the conflicts brought up at the beginning e g The Bridge of San Luis Rey the sequence in which each story is linked to the ones before it but without a cumulative story that ties everything together e g The Unvanquished the cluster in which the links between stories are not always made obvious and in which the discontinuity between them is more significant than their unity e g Go Down Moses and the novella in the classical sense of a collection of unrelated stories brought together by a frame story and a narrator s e g Winesburg Ohio All examples are Lunden s 7 Robert M Luscher compares and contrasts the short story cycle and science fiction short stories combined into longer fixups 8 History editIn their study of the genre Maggie Dunn and Ann Morris note that the form descends from two different traditions There are texts that are themselves assembled from other texts such as the way the tales from the Arthurian cycle are compiled in books by Chretien de Troyes Wolfram von Eschenbach Thomas Malory and the Mabinogion Then there are the classic serialized novellas many of them with frame stories this genre includes One Thousand and One Nights The Decameron The Canterbury Tales etc Dunn and Morris show how in the nineteenth century the genre appeared in such forms as the village sketch collection e g Our Village and the patchwork collection e g Louisa May Alcott s Aunt Jo s Scrap Bag 9 J Gerald Kennedy describes the proliferation of the genre in the twentieth century attributing it in part to the desire to renounce the organizing authority of an omniscient narrator asserting instead a variety of voices or perspectives reflective of the radical subjectivity of modern experience Kennedy finds this proliferation in keeping with modernism and its use of fragmentation juxtaposition and simultaneism to reflect the multiplicity that he believed to characterize that century 10 Scholars such as James Nagel and Rocio G Davis have pointed out that the story cycle has been very popular among ethnic U S authors Davis argues that ethnic writers find the format useful as a metaphor for the fragmentation and multiplicity of ethnic lives insofar as it highlights the subjectivity of experience and understanding by allowing multiple impressionistic perspectives and fragmentation of simple linear history 11 The composite novel editDunn and Morris list several methods that authors use to provide unity to the collection as a whole It has to be noted that these organising principles pertain to their theory of the composite novel as a short story collection where the focus lies on the coherent whole the examples are theirs The organising principles a geographical area The Country of the Pointed Firs Dubliners The Women of Brewster Place a central protagonist which has the option of also being the narrator Cosmicomics Winesburg Ohio The Woman Warrior A Certain Lucas a collective protagonist In Our Time Go Down Moses Love Medicine Borderlands La Frontera The New Mestiza patterns to create coherence Three Lives Exile and the Kingdom The Golden Apples A Yellow Raft in Blue Water focus on storytelling itself The Way to Rainy Mountain Pricksongs amp Descants How to Make an American Quilt Multiple of these organizing principles may be used in order to create a composite novel Titles using cycle technique editA Good Scent from a Strange Mountain A Hero of Our Time A Sportsman s Sketches A Visit From the Goon Squad A Young Doctor s Notebook Annie John Black Swan Green Cane Cathedral The Conjure Woman The Country of the Pointed Firs Dark Avenues Dubliners The Finer Grain For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf Go Down Moses The Golovlyov Family Hearts in Atlantis The House on Mango Street The Housebreaker of Shady Hill and Other Stories How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents I Robot In Our Time Jesus Son The Joy Luck Club The Last of the Menu Girls Legends of the Province House Linmill Stories Lives of Girls and Women Love Medicine The Martian Chronicles Monkeys novel Mrs Spring Fragrance Old Creole Days Olinger Stories Olive Again Olive Kitteridge The Piazza Tales Pictures of Fidelman Pulp Fiction Red Cavalry Sinbad the Sailor The Candy House The Seven Wonders The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon Gent The Things They Carried Three Lives Three Tales Uncle Tom s Children Until the Victim Becomes our Own The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963 The Wide Net Winesburg Ohio The Women of Brewster PlaceReferences edit Scholars are still debating the differences between these terms see Nagel s introduction for an overview of the discussion Mann Susan 1989 The Short Story Cycle New York Greenwood Press p 12 ISBN 0 313 25081 2 Mann p 11 Lynch Gerald 2001 The One and the Many English Canadian Short Story Cycles Toronto University of Toronto Press p xv doi 10 3138 9781442681941 ISBN 0 8020 3511 6 Dunn and Morris p 5 Nagel James 2001 The Contemporary American Short Story Cycle The Ethnic Resonance of Genre Baton Rouge Louisiana State University Press p 13 ISBN 0 8071 2660 8 Lunden Rolf 1999 The United Stories of America Studies in the Short Story Composite Rodopi pp 37 38 ISBN 978 90 420 0692 8 Luscher Robert M 2012 The American Short Story Cycle In Bendixen Alfred ed A Companion to the American Novel Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture Vol 80 John Wiley amp Sons p 370 ISBN 9781405101196 Dunn Maggie Ann Morris 1995 The Composite Novel The Short Story Cycle in Transition Twayne Publishers Macmillan ISBN 0 8057 0966 5 Kennedy J Gerald ed 1995 Modern American Short Story Sequences Composite Fictions and Fictive Communities Cambridge University Press p x xi ISBN 0 521 43010 0 Davis Rocio G 1997 Identity in Community in Ethnic Short Story Cycles In Julie Brown ed Ethnicity and the American Short Story New York Garland pp 3 23 ISBN 0 8153 2105 8 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Short story cycle amp oldid 1214341295, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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