| Title | 4. A Lodger Returns |
|---|---|
| Subtitle | Change in Narrative Voice Across Epigenetic Versions and Works |
| Contributor | Josefine Hilfling(author) |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0426.04 |
| Landing page | https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0426/chapters/10.11647/obp.0426.04 |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
| Copyright | Josefine Hilfling; |
| Publisher | Open Book Publishers |
| Published on | 2024-12-17 |
| Long abstract | Henrik Pontoppidan’s major novel A Fortunate Man (1898-1905) is told by a heterodiegetic omniscient narrator. A short section of the novel was originally published as the short story "Heart’s Delight" (1885). This short story is in the first edition told by a homodiegetic narrator, but in a revised second edition (1886), it is told by a heterodiegetic narrator. By tracing the epigenetic changes from the two versions of "Heart’s Delight" to A Fortunate Man, this essay argues that the change of voice in "Heart’s Delight" not only made it possible for Pontoppidan to later embed the short story in A Fortunate Man; it also resolved the unintended deficient narration (Phelan 2017) of the first edition of the short story and made it more stylistically coherent because it already featured characteristics typical of omniscient narration. Homodiegetic narration resembling omniscient narration anchored in single versions of texts, has previously been described by narrative critics (Skov Nielsen 2004; Shen 2013). This essay combines narratology and genetic criticism to explain the origin of inconsistencies in single texts and across versions and works. |
| Page range | pp. 55–72 |
| Print length | 18 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
Josefine Hilfling is PhD fellow (2023–26) at the University of Copenhagen and at the Society for Danish Language and Literature, an independent research institution in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her research concerns the writing process of the Danish Nobel Prize-winning author Henrik Pontoppidan (1857–1943). She is also co-editor of the digital edition of Henrik Pontoppidan’s three great novels The Promised Land, A Fortunate Man, and The Kingdom of the Dead.