An Analysis of the Creative Ways of Writing in Melanctha

閆楓

Abstract：Melanctha is the longest part of the Three Lives stories of Gertrude Stein in which the author tried many creative ways of writing. The most outstanding two writing methods used by Gertrude Stein are variations of repetition and the prolonged present tense. This essay will try to analyze how the author demonstrates her aesthetic， philosophical and ethical thoughts by a new writing style beneath the surface of her work.

Keywords：Gertrude Stein； variations of repetition； Prolonged Present Tense

Gertrude Stein is one of the most prolific， important and influential writers of the 20th century. She experiments with the writing style and is acknowledges as one of the pioneers of modernism. More than this， she holds salon “The Stein Salon” which gather the greatest European avant-garde artist and writers and become a greatly influential modernist. She “brought together confluences of talent and thinking that would help define modernism in literature and art”， and having great influence on contemporary writers such as Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. She was not regarded as an outstanding writer in the American literary history， while her innovative language is famous for critics.

Melanctha， the longest part of the Three Lives stories of Gertrude Stein， is an unconventional novella that focuses on the young woman Melanctha， a highly intelligent， emotionally complex mulatto woman who wanders through life always in search of knowledge and life experience. In the novel， Stein uses a modern stylistic approach of language to explore characters inner world and development of consciousness. There exist the aesthetic and philosophical thoughts beneath the surface of the innovative writing.

Melanctha is discussed most thoroughly because of its stylistic originality， many critics often concern the issue about her use of foreground language. Defined by M.A.K. Halliday， foregrounding is “the phenomenon of linguistic highlighting， whereby some features of the language of a text stand out in some way.” Author may break the linguistic rules to create a sense of alienation， so as to form a new way to highlight some parts. In the Melanctha the most common way are variations of repetition and the prolonged present tense which belong to the foregrounding language phenomena.

The variations of repetition could be regarded as the quantitative for foregrounding because of its high frequency. Extended repetition in the Melanchta includes those of linguistic， structural and thematic repetition. In the very first line， Stein establishes a sense of rhythm through her use of alliteration： “Rose Johnson made it very hard to bring her baby to its birth”. The sentence can be said “Rose Johnson deliver baby hardly”. Though the basic meaning would be the same， the repeated “b” sounds in the first line help create a beat， and evoke a sense of movement. Stein also uses the same words or phrases in the sentence. The sentence “Melanctha always loved and wanted peace and gentleness and goodness and all her life for herself poor Melantha could only find new ways to be in trouble”. The charm of the sentence exists in its briefness. The conjunction “and” is repeated， which is one type of linguistic foregrounding marker in the sentence. One of the functions of the conjunction “and” is to mark the relative importance and equivalence in the level of foregrounding. Author does not allow the reader to guess where the central idea in this sentence would focus on and asking the reader to study every word of the sentence. “and” is a perfect word to express Melancthas kindness which just lead trouble directly， making her poor life additive to her kindness rather than subordinate. And using word “and” is also to describe one of the characteristics of orally based thought and expression. In addition， readers may notice that in the sentence above， Stein breaks the conventional rules of grammar just using few punctuation marks. She believes peoples consciousness is like a stream which could not be interrupted by abstract comma， writing should go on keeping its continuity.

Moreover， in the Melanctha Stein makes the innovation and creates a new kind of verbs tense “the prolonged present tense” which becomes the main verbs tense in most of her later words. The prolonged present tense breaks the accepted and conventional grammatical rules and could be classified as the foregrounding language feature， eliminating the antiquated notions of the beginning， middle and end. Stein believes the prolonged present tense helps Stein depict the characterization and characters psychological experience on the duration of certain time.

“Melanctha Herbert always loved too hard and much too often. She was always full with mystery and subtle movements and denial and vague distrusts and complicated disillusion. Then Melanctha would be sudden and impulsive and unbounded in some faith， and then she would suffer and be strong in her repression.” The prolonged present tense devotes to the psychology of the protagonists. With the help of the prolonged present tense， Melancthas psychological experiences are displayed on the duration of certain time. The novella displays the main characters natural dispositions in several individual events and in them the sharp contrast images are presented completely. Melanctha is always willing to move into the violent world， to test her desire and to read “understanding.” She is always “seeking rest and quiet， and always she could find new ways to be in trouble.” Each of the significant phrases is repeated in slightly new sentences until the reader is aware of the change within conscious experience. Melancthas desire for experience leads to violence， Melanctha discovers wisdom， though she never does or means anything that is wrong.

Melanctha uses her knowledge to teach her lover Jeff Campbell how to begin thinking outside available social values. Jeff hold different attitudes towards life and love， Melancthas word always evoked the inner conflicts of him. “Jeff Cambell never aseked Melanctha any more if she loved him， Now things were always getting worse between them. Now Jeff was always very silent with Melanctha. Now Jeff wanted to be honest to her， and now Jeff never had much to say to her”. The application of the prolonged present tense becomes a stylistic device to depict Melanctha and Jeffs inner conflict. The relationship of the lovers in both sides described as an ever-lasting struggle which is sure to be going on always between the lovers. Jeff makes a severe struggle with himself thinking about their love. The prolonged present tense and the structural repetition makes the novella loop back repeatedly， and discover completely reaction to the all the stage of psychic activities.

To sum up， Gertrude Stein demonstrates her aesthetic， philosophical and ethical thoughts by a new writing style beneath the surface of her work. She didnt follow any mode or copy and theory to create her own way. Extended repetition and prolonged present tense are important factor to techniques for her modern writing.

References：

[1]Gertrude Stein. Three Lives. The Grafton Press， 1909.

[2]孫紅艷. 格魯楚得斯坦因語言藝術研究D]. 上海外國語學院博士論文，2011.

（責編 張景賢）