The Politics of Monologist Representation

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/bethunivj.38.2021.0127
• Pages: 127-149
• Published date: 01 January 2021
• Date: 01 January 2021
• Author: Musaموسى Al-Haloolالحالول
• Subject Matter: dramatic monologue,representation,objectivist posturing,reader's enthrallment,المونولوج الد ا رمي,التمثيل,التظاهر بالموضوعية,أسْر القارئ

127

Bethlehem University Journal 38 (2021)

The Politics of Monologist Representation

Musa Al-Halool1

1Professor of English & Comparative Literature, Taif Universi-

ty, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This article proffers a deconstructionist reading of the dramatic monologue and

examines its rhetorical strategies and the politics of monologic representation,

by which the rst-person speaker/ monologist monopolizes discursive space and

over-represents himself, while silencing other voices in the text and refusing

them the freedom and space to express themselves. Through a close analysis

of monologist representation of the Other in various texts, including “Mending

Wall” by Robert Frost, “Devonshire Street W. 1” by John Betjeman, as well as

Ron Carlson’s short story “Bigfoot Stole My Wife” (albeit a dramatic monologue

in prose), this article seeks to expose the ways in which the poetic persona is

always partial, interested, and subjective, with not-so-subtle an agenda, a speaker

who passes value judgments on the human objects of his overbearing tone. By

examining the politics of monologist representation against both Aristotelian

ethos and Bakhtinian intonation, the article suggests that readers and critics can

give voice to the voiceless in this elastic genre and abandon their sympathetic

interpretations that practically absolve monologists of any bias towards their

absent enemies or any politics of representation.

Keywords: dramatic monologue, representation, objectivist posturing, reader’s

enthrallment,

Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in this article do not represent the

opinions of the Journal’s editorial board and staff of the Dean of Research at Bethlehem

University. The accuracy of the material and any errors in this publication are the sole

responsibility of the author.

128 Bethlehem University Journal 38 (2021)

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