Style and Technique: Narrative Voice

Narrative Voice in Sunset Song

Third-person omniscient narrative:

The majority of Sunset Song is written using a third-person omniscient narration, allowing the reader to explore the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters.
This approach provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the characters and their situations, enabling them to empathise with characters like Chris Guthrie and John Guthrie even when their actions might seem harsh or frustrating.

Chris Guthrie as the protagonist and central consciousness:

Despite the use of third-person narrative, the story largely follows the perspective of Chris Guthrie, the protagonist. The reader closely follows her experiences, making her internal monologue and reactions essential to how the narrative unfolds.
Chris’s thoughts and experiences are written with a blend of Scots dialect and Standard English, reflecting the dual nature of her identity, and the cultural clash she represents.

Use of dialect:

Lewis Grassic Gibbon uses the regional Scots dialect extensively throughout the novel. This may present an initial challenge for readers unfamiliar with it, but greatly adds to the novel’s authenticity, grounding it in its specific geographical and cultural context.
The use of dialect gives voice to the rural Scottish community depicted in the novel, acting as a form of socio-cultural commentary and offering insight into the characters’ identities, their sense of belonging, and their relationship with the land and tradition.

Stream-of-consciousness technique:

Gibbon often uses stream-of-consciousness technique to present Chris’s internal thoughts. This gives the narrative a sense of immediacy and intimacy, allowing readers to better understand and empathise with Chris and her struggles.
This technique also successfully portrays the complicated and often contradictory nature of human consciousness, capturing the complex interplay of memory, perception, thought, and emotion that defines the human experience.

Influence of Modernism:

The narrative style is also influenced by modernist techniques. The narrative is filled with symbolism, inner monologue, and a non-linear sequence of events which challenge traditional narrative methods.
Gibbon uses this style to explore complex psychological states, subjective realities, and the impact of social change, similar to other modernist writers like Virginia Woolf and James Joyce.

To sum up, narrative voice in Sunset Song is a blend of conventional third-person narration, modernist experimentation, and the distinct cultural voice of a rural Scottish community. This combination creates a deeply engaging narrative that alternates between the broad social panorama and the deeply personal, effectively conveying the human experience in a rapidly changing world.