DefinePK

Abstract

Monologism is a theoretical concept which functions as a writing technique, implemented by many authors in their fictional work. This paper aims to investigate the Bakhtinian theory of monological attitude adopted by the narrator in Walker’s short story “A Letter of the Times, or Should This Sado-Masochism Be Saved?” This research is qualitative in nature. For the purpose of this study, the data have been collected through purposive sampling technique. The selected short story has been analyzed through the lens of Bakhtin’s theory of Monologism (1984). This study aims to answer the ways in which the author’s monologic discourse has been used to establish a feminist ideology in Walker’s short story. The findings illustrate the dominance of a single voice of the author, representing the sole authority of the author; focalization; assumed recipient; subjective truth-single narrative; unilateral and centripetal force, which is always directed to the center i.e., to himself. Moreover, the speaker has created ideological linguistic consciousness, by using the series of feminist linguistic codes and supported it with the help of established institutions in order to exercise it. The linguistic codes used by the narrator have been promoted by the author’s monologic discourse. For future research, it is suggested to conduct a stylistic and pragmatic analysis of the selected short story.