Analysis of Defamiliarization in Death in the Woods

【Abstract】The core concept of Russian Formalism， defamiliarization is the technique by which authors make familiar things seem strange， restoring their aesthetic quality and awakening the readers sense of novelty. This paper elucidates the use of defamiliarization in one of Sherwood Andersons most famous short stories， Death in the Woods， specifically in its narrative perspective and character naming， which arguably reveal its overarching themes.

【Key words】Death in the Woods; defamiliarization; narrative perspective; character naming

【作者簡介】杨阳（1996.02.17-），女，汉族，宁夏回族自治中卫人，现就读于首都师范大学外国语学院2018级外国语言学及应用语言学专业，硕士研究生，研究方向：文体学。

1. Introduction

Sherwood Anderson was one of the most influential short story writers in the history of American literature. Writing during the period when America transformed from a rural to an industrial society， he explored new realms in his fiction： the psychological and emotional aspects of small-town life， with special attention toward the lower classes， the unsuccessful， the depraved， and the inarticulate. Death in the Woods is one of Andersons most outstanding short stories. It features a narrator who remembers from his childhood the tragic fate of an old woman. When she was young， this woman had cooked food and fed animals on a farm， and later married a farmhand by the name of Jake Grimes. One day， she walked to town to trade for food， but she only received some liver and dog-meat. On her way home， she died of exhaustion and cold in the woods.

In his work Theory of Prose， the literary theorist Viktor Shklovsky analyzed the technique of defamiliarization. “Shklovsky argued that as things become more and more familiar， we stop paying attention to them. In some cases， we stop noticing them entirely. This is what happens to everyday language; it gets automatized”. Shklovsky believed that the aim of literary creation is not to achieve an aesthetic cognition but to pursue aesthetic feelings. He proposed that defamiliarization is a function of literary text， and of art in general， which distances the reader from everyday， familiar things， and construes them in a new light so as to make them appear beautiful and novel. Defamiliarization contributes to much of the aesthetic effect and emotional impact of Death in the Woods， in particular through the storys unusual narrative perspective and its character names.

2. The implication of defamiliarization in Death in the Woods

2.1 Narrative perspective and defamiliarization

Narrative perspective refers to the position of the narrator in relation to the story. According to Narrative Discourse by Gerard Genette， the narrative perspective can be divided into three kinds： omniscient perspective， outside the narrative perspective， and within the narrative perspective. Before the appearance of various literary theories in the 20th century， the most widely used perspective was omniscient third-person， in which the narrator has complete knowledge of the characters actions as well as thoughts， and the readers imagination is wholly derived from this passive acceptance. But in Death in the Woods， the first-person outside the narrative perspective is used， creating a novel， aesthetic experience.

2.1.1 Childrens perspectives and defamiliarization

It is known that Anderson always shifted freely not only between childrens and adults perspective but also between past and present time when applying the special narrative technique of childrens perspective. In Death in the Woods， the recollecting perspective of “I” as a mature adult and the going through perspective of “I” as an innocent boy are adopted alternately in the narration. In the former perspective， “I” tells information more naturally and comments on the story more freely， while the narrator describes what “I” had witnessed and his emotion shocking in the later perspective. “These two perspectives reflect ‘my different views on events at different times or different levels of understanding of events. The contrast between them are often mature and naive， knowing the truth and being kept in the dark”. At the perspective of “I” as a boy， the narrator presents some fragmented and childish social scenes through the boys immature and innocent eyes. In addition， many things the boy sees he sees for the first time. It gives readers a sense of strangeness because the existing familiar scenes in their mind is subverted， and extends the time that readers pay attention to the scenes at the same time. Therefore， the narrative perspective of an innocent boy not only makes an otherwise ordinary story fascinating but also brings the reader an aesthetic feeling.

After suffering a lot， the old woman dies silently in the woods. We can infer that neither the boy nor his brother had ever seen a womans body before. When the boy sees the old womans corpse， he thinks that “It may have been the snow， clinging to the frozen flesh， that made it look so white and lovely， so like marble”. “She did not look old， lying there in that light， frozen and still”. Normally， when it comes to death， the reader may unconsciously think of the following words： darkness， crows， chill， horror， danger， ruthlessness， conspiracy and so on. However， there are no words in the work describing the grief of the old womans death; instead her death and its aftermath are expressed in more positive terms. Her corpse is compared to the body of a charming young girl. That is， the death is defamiliarized， which forces the reader to ponder over the true meaning of the old womans death. Death is not a terrible thing for the old woman but a relief. It helps her put down the burden of a hard and harsh life， and represents a purification from dirtiness， a solemn transcendence.

2.1.2 Strangers perspective and defamiliarization

In Death in the Woods， the “I” is both the narrator and a character in the story， but “I” has no influence on the story development. To the protagonist Mrs. Grimes in the work， the narrator “I” is a stranger， who only narrates for the reader based on what what he had seen and heard from others. Thus， the narrators perspective is limited and the text is full of subjectivity， which makes the reader suspect his authenticity and his ability to tell truth. When reading the story， the reader may doubt whether what the narrator says is true or not because of the ambiguous narrative.

“I wonder how I know all this. It must have stuck in my mind from small-town tales when I was a boy”. At this point， the reader is struck by the boys limited age and must consider whether the events described really happened. “I remember now that she was a bound girl and did not know where her father and mother were. Maybe she did not have any father. You know what I mean”. Here the reader may conjecture whether she is a bound girl or not. “It was whispered about that the womans husband stole horses and ran them of to some other country. Now and then， when a horse turned up missing， the man had also disappeared. No one ever caught him”. The narrator merely mentions without proof that Jack was a horse thief. It is said that Jack had a threshing machine but people were afraid that he would steal grain at night and did not trust him， so he went into debt as a result. The reader may wonder whether peoples distrust and alienation led him to steal horses to retaliate against others. In addition， this may reflect the impact of industry and capitalism on the people in small town of the American Midwest. Their traditional values were subverted： material and money first prevailed and trust between people was absent， which made the problem of alienation between people extremely serious.

2.2 Character naming and defamiliarization

Language can be divided into everyday language and literary language; the former is a conventional tool for exchange of information， while the latter self-consciously stands apart. Defamiliarization aims to make general language possess the aesthetic characteristics of literature. It refers to the novelty and anomaly of the literary language. So the use and meaning of the words are supposed to be abnormal， deviated and alienated， only in this way can the aesthetic characteristics of literature be demonstrated. While the technique of defamiliarization is entirely reflected in the Death in the Woods by artful character naming.

Despite her seeming insignificance to other characters in the story， the narrator recalls the old womans name. When she married she took her husbands surname， Grimes. One sample dictionary entry states that “ ‘grimes is dirt which has collected on the surface of something.”Thus “Grimes” is an extremely appropriate manifestation of her fate. She lived humbly and menially like one grain of dust. “Jake Grimes was away and the son and his woman ordered the old woman about like a servant. She didnt mind much; she was used to it. Whatever happened she never said anything”. The old woman， almost a slave， expended all her life to serve despicable characters and farm animals， while she never had a right to express her feelings and was constantly neglected or ignored. In addition， at the beginning of the novel， the narrator refers to a group of women like Mrs. Grimes by “such old women”. “She was an old woman and lived on a farm near the town in which I lived. All country and small-town people have seen such old women， but no one knows much about them”. That means that Mrs. Grimes is not alone， there are many women lived like her in the countryside and small-towns.

From above， it is clear that the old woman was not an individual， but a typical tragic farm woman of a time. Women serve their husbands， children， and neighbors silently but never gain any rewards or attentions. At the same time， it is possible to interpret a condemnation of womens social position， an oppressed condition within the patriarchal society developing according to capitalism and industrialization.

3. Conclusion

This paper analyzes defamiliarization in Death in the Woods by focusing upon narrative perspective and character naming. The limited narrative perspective of the first-person was applied in the work. The recollecting perspective of “I” as a mature adult and the going through perspective of “I” as an innocent boy are adopted alternately in the narration. In addition， the character naming also adds boundless charm into the work. This defamiliarization technique not only offers literary works endless aesthetic flexibility but also enriches the readers aesthetic experience. At the same time， it also highlights the three main themes of the work： death of beauty， alienation and sex discrimination， which enables readers to understand the profound significance of the work better.

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