Introduction
Experimentation in writing takes many forms. However before looking at the various forms of experimental writing, it is important to look at the definition of experimental writing. Experimental fiction writing defies the conventional rules and sets its own rules. Experimental writing subverts all the conventions in literature (Auster, 2000). This writing is a complete departure from the conventional forms of writing because it has an invisible structure unlike the conventional forms whose structure is so invisible that the reader is only absorbed in the plot and not other elements outside the plot. In experimental writing, the structure is part of the subject matter.
Is all writing experimental?
There is a basic structure in almost all types of writing. The layout of the arguments is also same (Winterson, 1995). The characters undergo changes within the pieces of writing because of the situations that revolve around them, affecting their lives. The aforementioned attributes of most pieces of writing especially the fictional literature imply that there is a certain formula followed by writers. However, the presence of a formula does not mean that literature is a structured genre.
What is experimental writing? Is all writing experimental? Though the term experimental writing exists, it would be wrong to say that all writing is experimental. In fact, experimental writing constitutes less than forty percent of all forms of writings. Plot is an integral part of writing. According to William Champion, plot is an intellectual element in prose fiction and the making of any plot in prose fiction is experimental. The term experimental writing was coined up by Emille Zola in her attempt to advanced synonym for naturalism in the late nineteenth century. Human intelligence is manifested in a scientific path and any writing is organized on the principles of human intelligence which means that most pieces of writing are written using an experimental method.
According to Warren Beck, the prosperous popular magazines fostered the literary experiment and not the little magazine that Champion praised for having furthered literary experiment. The notion that all writing is experimental flawed. To start with, there must be efforts to honor progressive achievement but some distinctions in the classes of writing tend to reinforce clumsy and prejudiced obstructions in the minds of writers and this has created a notion that experimental writing is esoteric. There are some literary scholars who even assert that there is no such a thing as experimental writing meaning that all writing is structured. They tend to disagree with Zola’s assertion that all writing is experimental claiming that novelists and writers are not capable of engaging literature with the scientific methodology.
All experiments follow a certain scientific methodology. There are sufficient conditions that must prevail for scientific experimentation to be successful and this condition is the replication of results. This means that a successful experimental writing does not need to be tried again because if a need arose to have the results tried again, then the writing becomes conventional and not experimental. There are scholars who claim that experimental writing is cryptic. Experimental writing exists but the problem is its longevity. There are very few experimental writers from the past generations that are still being read today. However, there are some successful experimental writers from the past generations who are still being read today. One of these writers is Ronald Firbank. His works give the best possible defense against the concept of experimental writing. Most experimental writers disappear from literary criticism limelight even before they die physically meaning that their works cannot outlast them. Some of these experimental writers like John Barth, Thomas Pynchon, and William Gardis did not outlive their works.
Frank Kafka
One of the most celebrated experimental writers is Frank Kafka. Unlike most of his contemporaries in experimental writing, Kafka’s works were celebrated posthumously because all his works were published after his death. He was an experimental writer who started writing during his pastime and never cared about publishing his works. He published his first article in 1908 and the article was called meditation which would appear in one of the bimonthly magazines in his town. He started writing more pieces for more magazines. They became very popular because they were very impressionistic. One of his friends was known as Max Brod. The two developed a very strong and mutual relationship though Kafka did not introduce his friend to his work immediately (Brod, 1960). The moment he was introduced to the works written by Kafka, he discovered that he was a writing genius and kept him writing more and more. He encouraged him to publish his works because Kafka would write and destroy the manuscript.
The relationship between the two men cannot be underestimated especially when it comes to Kafka and literature. After the tender death of Kafka, Brod gathered all what he had written, edited and published them. He also made sure that the works of his friend survived the holocaust. Kafka may have disappeared into obscurity and his genius would not have been exposed to the world were it not for his friend Max Brod. Brod was also a prolific writer and worked with Kafka but the world does not remember him because of his own works but because of his contribution in the preservation of Kafka’s work and being his biographer. One of his most famous experimental pieces of writing is the metamorphosis. The metamorphosis was inspired by his own life experiences especially the relationship with his family and his attitude towards religion. His parody of bureaucracy in the book is as a result of his experiences while living with
his despotic father. He was creative in the way he took up some elements of his life and compacted them to reflect tensions in the outer society (Kafka, 1990). The author never used simplistic interpretations in his works and it is hardly impossible for anyone that has not read his biography to connect the events in the metamorphosis with his own life because of his creative weaving of the plot of the book to create a universal appeal. It is highly likely that the Samsa character in his work is Kafka himself because the life experiences of Kafka and that of Samsa are similar.
Story of an Hour
The other good example of experimental writing is the story of an hour. The story of an hour is an impressive masterpiece that appeals to the emotions and the mind of the audience because every word in this short story has a lot of sense and deep meaning. The main character in the book is Mrs. Mallard who is lucky to experience the happiness of liberty which is a rare thing to experience. At the exposition, Mrs. Mallards, Husband dies and the news of her death is brought to her very subtly because of the fear that it might aggravate her illness. However, contrary to the expectations of the reader, the news does not affect her in anyway. The author makes many omissions in the exposition to create a missing link whereby the reader manages to understand everything at the end. The author develops the main character subtly and avoids being distracted by too much action and dialogue. The main intention is to hide some details from the reader who discovers them at the end of the story.
Dialogue and action give the reader the power to carry out introspective analysis that may help in understanding the character before hand. Dialogue and action bring the characters closer to the reader in quite a revealing way. The author did not want to make revelations until the end of the falling action. The situation the main character is in makes her not to be deeply affected by the news of the death of her husband. This is contrary to the expectation of the reader who expects the woman to be emotionally affected by the death. It is only afterwards that she comes to realize that the death means much to her and she becomes emotional.
When she finally retreats to her room, she undergoes a Catharsis and experiences a liberal feeling that is somehow disturbing. This reaction makes the character to assume the role of an antagonist because she goes against the expectations of the reader and the grain of the plot and a protagonist because this reaction is later exposed in the story as the one that set the stage for her happy ending.
The conflict in the story is brought about by the reaction of the main character towards the news of the death. People are trying to break the news so subtly to avoid hurting her further but in the real sense, she feels liberated by the news. It is important to note that the woman was not happy with her man whom she would have divorced earlier if the society did not frown upon widows. The death of her husband rids her of someone she didn’t even desire.
The climax of the story comes when the husband reappears and the wife dies upon seeing him. This is the part that turns the story around because questions emerge about the cause of her death. Some students find it hard understanding the ending of this book especially if they have not figured out the conflict. A keen reader will notice that the main character does not die because of being overjoyed after seeing her husband who had been presumed dead; she dies because that was the only way to gain freedom from her husband. She would have chosen to die than live under her domineering husband again. The liberation she gets in death has been foreshadowed in the exposition where she gets liberated by the death of the husband only for the ending to reveal that she is liberated by her own death.
Postmodernism
Experimental writing in the modern setting tends to criticize the ability to communicate the truth. Experimental writers usually distrust language. The modern day experimental writers focus on the style of narrative play borrowing heavily from the pop culture. This is an attempt to show that language is a mere tautology. Experimental writers in the contemporary writing environment belong to a literary class called post modernism. Post modernists are experimental writers and their work resides in the thickness of their prose and the complicated structural patterns. The style in postmodern experimental writing is usually self reflective and eclectic in nature. This means that this style of writing tends to draw attention away from the story and focuses on the act of telling the story.
Experimental writing rejects the conventional rigid boundaries and the elite categories that were once considered as pure art. There are several post modern writers that are worth exploring. One of these writers is John Barth who creates storylines that have conventional conflicts and plot structure. However, his writings are quite ambiguous and have interior play that distracts the readers who concentrate on the elements of story telling and not the story itself. For example, in his book titled the voyage of the sailor, the identity of the main character keeps on changing because the writer keeps on the boundaries between the narrator and the protagonist, building them up then tearing them down again. Another experimental writer in the post modern era is Kurt Vonnegut. This writer tells mainstream stories. These stories are usually content driven but the problem is that he always breaks down the illusion of plausibility in all his writings. The writer engages in not so reverent dialogue. This dialogue occurs between the reader and the narrator making it one of the most dangerous attempts in experimental writings.
There are also French postmodernists who have made an attempt at experimental writing. Nouveau Roman and Alain Robbe-Grillet have excelled significantly as experimental writers. Just like their English counterparts, they create characters that cannot be easily tracked. The characters usually go back and forth creating a past and a future version of themselves and they are always described from an objective, impersonal and outside perspective and this is why he fails to psychoanalyze the main character in all his works (Foer, 1998)
Conclusion
Experimental writing has grown exponentially in the twentieth and the twenty first century especially due to the influence of the pop culture. That’s is why most writers are moving away from the conventional writing patterns and are moving to the more flexible experimental writing that allows all forms of deviations and eccentricity. Experimental writing is not constrained by the weight of language. Serious forms of writings often projects linguistic patterns that render structure invisible. Human intelligence is manifested in a scientific path and any writing is organized on the principles of human intelligence which means that most pieces of writing are written using an experimental method. However, this does not mean that all literate or writing is experimental. The notion that all forms of writings are experimental is therefore fallacious thought experimental writing has become the most popular form of writing in the contemporary times.
List of References
Auster, P (2000). New York Trilogy. NY: Wiley.
Bauer, J.(1971). Kafka and Prague. New York: Praeger Publishers.
Brod, M (1960). Franz Kafka: A Biography. New York: Schocken Books.
Foer, J. (1998). Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. NJ: Pearson books.
Kafka,F. 1990. The Metamorphosis. Cambridge: CUP.
Winterson, J. (1995).The World and Other Places. Oxford: OUP.