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David Foster Wallace's Philosophy And The Mirror Of Nature

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David Foster Wallace’s, “Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature”, a brief narratological analysis with regards to meaning and deep structure. Like many other methods of literary analysis, Narratology is comprised of the work of many linguists, each bearing an individual view point or utilising an individual approach. However, the general aim of these scholars seems to correlate, that correlation being they all seek to highlight an underlying structure within a text. With regards to the text, David Foster Wallace’s, “Philosophy and the mirror of Nature”, the form of the text is a short first person story, with many riddles and puzzles intertwined in typical David Foster Wallace fashion, with some of his works being referred to as ‘Immune to Narratology’. (Richard Stock …show more content…

Subsequently, this exposure of the frame narratives raises cynicism of the reliability of the narrator, that is, the testimonial value of his intentions. For Genette, this was a ‘Narrative Metalepsis’, as the narrator is persistently intruding into the ‘telling of the tale’. Therefore, despite a clear divide with regards to methodology between him and Griemas, a clear argument for the unreliable narrator is established for Narratology, as one of many structural ‘organs’ of this short story. I use the term ‘organ’ as Genette’s theory regards literature as ‘living’ through its necessity for certain ‘organs’ and complexity, which is greatly developed through Genette’s development of specialised narratological terminology, which is helpful in supporting other narratological arguments. As one of the original scholars for Narratology, Roland Barthes can be accredited with helping to sculpt modern literary analysis. Despite his ideas being heavily adapted by other linguists, the fundamental variation of his theory, differentiates him from others scholars of his time. Thus allowing his theory of ‘Proairetic

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