The Role of the Narrator, Narratee and Implied Reader in Three Novels of Hubert Aquin: A Study in First-Person Narration, with a select, annotated bibliography of works on Aquin

Abstract

Based upon a comprehensive survey of the research literature in narratology, three novels by Hubert Aquin are subjected to critical analysis from the viewpoint of the relationship between author and reader and therefore between narrator and narratee. 'Prochain épisode' is examined in terms of the intertextual frames within the role which the implied reader is expected to assume. This analysis is extended to 'Trou de mémoire' with the further examination of the competition of various narrators to establish a textual authority and to 'L'Antiphonaire' where the manner in which successive narrators filter the previous narrator's work is given consideration. In conclusion, it is demonstrated that a geometrical logic underlies the organization of the novels and a model is proposed to explain the relationship of the narrator, narratee and implied reader to the text. A select, annotated bibliography of works on Aquin is appended.