Monday, September 2, 2013

Further thoughts on Infinite Jest's central editor

Infinite Jest is a work that heavily relies on characters. One way that Wallace makes these characters stand out is through eye dialect. When a character like Marathe is speaking, his syntax and word choice are what you'd expect from a Quebecois. Though, it is a bit of a caricature.

Nonetheless, writing in so many voices in dialogue and in narrative description, gives Infinite Jest the flavour of a collection of interconnected scenes and anecdotes. Not to mention the book's endnotes. Including errata and extra information with a book underscores its compiled nature, lending further strength to the argument that the book has a central editor rather than a central narrator.

Of course, Infinite Jest's not the only book to have multiple viewpoints. Each entry in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire features several perspectives. Yet, the books in that series read much more like a traditional narrative. Equal emphasis on character and plot is definitely a factor in the traditional quality of that series. So too, is A Song of Ice and Fire's being an epic fantasy series; such works traditionally have an extensive scope, including their cast, and so A Song of Ice and Fire fits into its genre handily.

Aside from being "literary," Infinite Jest has no genre. Thus, a drive to classify it, and my sense that there's some central editor rather than central narrator behind it all.

The possibility of a central editor seems especially likely after seeing endnotes like 264 (on the word "recircling" (643)): "Sic, but it's pretty obvious what Marathe means here."

No comments:

Post a Comment