An anatomy of third world literature : Northrop Frye's theory of modes in a post-colonial context : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at Massey University

Abstract

Viney Kirpaul ( 1988; pp 144, 145) points out that there is no 'relevant critical framework' within which to analyse the Third World novel, and so the common practice is to consider it a version of the nineteenth-century Western novel. Within a framework based on the first essay of Frye' s Anatomy of Criticism, this thesis argues that four different modes of Third World fiction must be distinguished, and that within each mode some forms are episodic (if they develop only a small number of archetypes) and others encyclopaedic (because of their range of archetypes and techniques). Chapter One deals with the theory and scope of the study. The subsequent chapters analyse twenty episodic and four encyclopaedic works in four different modes, chosen from Africa, India and the Caribbean. A comprehensive glossary explaining the critical terms used in the thesis adds more texts as examples, including some from the South Pacific region. At the centre of the study are such well-known Third World authors as Ngugi, Raj a Rao, Lamming, Bhattacluu·ya, Achebe, Naipaul, and Ayi Kwei Armah, while the glossary adds the works of others, including Narayan, S oyinka, Derek Walcott, Albert Wendt and Witi Ihimaera.