Browsing by Author "William, Lucy"

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    Prose and poetry fusion in Mbonde’s reflections of my mind
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2015) William, Lucy
    Verse novels are literary texts which incorporate both narratives and poems in one literary text. The writing of verse novels particularly in the Tanzanian context is a new arrival. Mbonde’s Reflections of my Mind (2004) is one of the verse novels and probably the only literary text written in English that used this technique of fusing two different literary genres within a single text. This study then, examined the text’s technique of blending two dissimilar genres within a single text in order to observe whether it generates an organic unity or not. Using a Reader Response Approach that allows the reader to interpret the text as a multilayered structure, the study demonstrated that the way the plot is presented in both sections of the verse novel engenders themes which are complementary. Likewise, the language used especially religious language and use of different techniques particularly similes as well as proverbs in both sections of the verse novel, unified the text. Also, characterisation assisted the verse novel to achieve its organic unity especially the way the main character is presented in the prose section and the way the same character acts as the speaking voice in the poetry section. Therefore, the study revealed that when two different literary genres are fused together in one literary text, they create an organic unity. The organic unity occurs in the context that most of issues discussed in this study, emerged in both sections of the verse novel, that is, the prose section and the poetry section and hence, make a prolongation of events from one section to another.