The creative process in narratives: some insights
“Whenever I go to a foreign country I try my best to get at the
traditional narrative of old the country. Thereby I understand who my
fellow mates are.” - W Somerset Maugham
The types of narrators vary from time to time and from culture to
culture. Similarly their narrative forms too change in keeping with the
ideologies and philosophies they hold as creators. The oldest forms of
narratives are found in folklore which possess similarities as well as
dissimilarities. Out of the manifold forms of narratives extant in
folklore, the myth, fable and fairytale are distinctive.
As folklorists point out in their various researches, the myth is the
most significant narrative which questions the basic factors pertaining
to life. As the French writer Albert Camus who experimented on the
expression of sensitive areas of human experiences. The Greek myths have
influenced him a lot.
In his own words, ‘the myth of Sisyphus was embedded in my memory for
quite a long time. The day I understood the real meaning of that myth
happens to be the birth of one of my well known narratives titled as
‘The Outsider’. There lies the meaning of myth which itself is a curious
question to be answered.’
James Joyce may have been influenced by the myth of Ulysses, the
Greek myth, but the central theme is quite distant from the experience
one encounters in the narrative. The myth in itself had given rise to
various aspects of the narratives. The term ‘fantasy’ lurks in the myth.
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Albert
Camus |
The myth is a science known as mythology. Most narrators wish to
retell the myth known to them in terms of narratives and dramatic forms.
One good example comes from the Indian writer Tagore who tried to
reinterpret Mahabharatha and Ramayana myths in modern terms.
The well known Indian writer R K Narayan too was fond of
reinterpreting the poetic myth. To what extent a creator is free to
reinterpret is also a complex question. Most Jataka tales and stories as
found in Panchantantra are reinterpretations of myth and mythical
experiences. Just as much as gods and goddesses appear in ancient Greek
myths, the portraits of demons, ogres and ogresses appear in Jatakas as
well as Panchatantra narratives. They are seen as playing a vital role
in the life of humans.
The great political thinker Karl Marx is said who stated that his
favourite creative work happens to be the very first stage play
‘Prometheus Bound’ written by the Greek writer Aeschylus. This play had
been known by the Greeks as the narrative of the great man Prometheus
who stole fire from the heavenly abodes of gods and goddesses to be
given as a boon of beneficial powers to the actual users on earth such
as the blacksmith, potter and the cook in kitchen. Since the time of
Aeschylus, many an interpretations and creative versions have sprung up
from various cultures.
“I rise in flames, cried phoenix” happened to be a remarkable
theatrical version created by D H Lawrence. A number of myths have given
various dimensions of fairytales, fables, parables and legends. Various
directions to which the myth had traversed are indeed the story of the
evolution of the narrative forms.
A Sri Lankan scholar living in Cambridge attached to the University
of Cambridge recently touched on this subject in a Sinhala newspaper
literary supplement. He has written a certain book review where he
stated that the age old myth when transformed takes the shape of modern
fairytales and other forms of folk narratives.
As George Orwell once pointed out his narrative titled ‘The Animal
Farm’ is a modern day fairytale. The Polish writer Isaac Bashevic Singer
who came to live in the United States of America introduced a new form
of modern narrative which was observed as a variant to the extant
patterns of the time.
He remodeled some of the Biblical myths and folk narrative to express
the conscience of his time. Most of the short stories written by Singer
happened to be more like legends and fairy tales. His creations when
translated into English from the original Yiddish did not sound alien.
The features that have been alien may have been the polish names and
situations. But the basic human experiences were more homely and
sensitively captured. A long essay on the narrative patterns of Singer
is written by Saul Bellow who was more an American than a Polish Jew.
Saul Bellow who was a collaborator of Singer in the translation
process too was a follower of the craftsmanship of Singer. Bellow’s work
‘Herzog’ is ample testimony to the effect of the influence. It is
visualised that no sensitive creator can escape from the spirit of
creativity embedded in this age old myth and the narrative that were
born later as offshoots. A rediscovery of myth as a seminal form may
give vent to a better understanding of the human evolution and thereby
give more insights to literary evaluation discarding the conventional
patterns of critical canons. Is this not what the French writer Roland
Barthes tried to evaluate in his work mythologies?
The same was done by several oriental scholars, whose works and views
have not been taken seriously as a result of the parochial manner in
which the literary and creative process are evaluated.
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