Post
by polymath » May 10th, 2012, 2:34 pm
Whose voice are the footnotes in? Who do they address? And what's the time separation between the footnotes and the main action?
If the narrative voice of the footnotes is an author's, I think that voice could open narrative distance too wide for accessibility and participation mystique's sakes, regardless of audience. If the voice is an implied author's, maybe narrative distance isn't too wide for accessibility and participation mystique. If the voice is a narrator's, closing narrative in a little, maybe that's a stronger use. If the voice is a viewpoint character's, Barb's your aunt. Beautiful.
If the footnotes address readers directly, again, too wide a narrative distance. perhaps, for accessibility and participation mystique benefits. If the footnotes address a character, again, Barb's your aunt. Consider an apostrophe form for the footnotes. An apostrophe is a rhetorical figure that directly addresses a persona who is not present.
If there's considerable separation in relative or absolute time between the main action and the footnotes, willing suspension of disbelief could be compromised. Methods for managing time separation and who knows what when might require a complex dramatic structure. Say the footnotes enhance the main action by expressing commentary on what's known at the now time of the footnotes contrasting with the now time of the main action. Neither need be reliable, stronger if unreliable to a degree for each voice, but I think both the footnotes and the main action should come to a new and blended knowledge in the ending act.
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