7/26/2019 Free Indirect Speech

1/2

Free indirect speechFree indirect speechis a style of third-person narrationwhich uses some of thecharacteristics of third-person along with the essence of first-persondirect speech. (Itis also referred to as free indirect discourse, free indirect style, or discours

indirect librein French.) Randall Stevenson suggests, however, that the term freeindirect discourse "is perhaps est reserved for instances where words have actuallyeen spo!en aloud" and that cases "where a characters voice is proaly the silentinward one of thought" should e descried as free indirect style.#$%

Comparison of styles

&hat distinguishes free indirect speech from normal indirect speech is the lac! of anintroductory e'pression such as "e said" or "he thought". It is as if the suordinateclausecarrying the content of the indirect speech is ta!en out of the mainclausewhich contains it, ecoming the main clauseitself. sing free indirect speech

may convey the characters words more directly than in normal indirect, as devicessuch as inter*ections and psycho-ostensive e'pressions li!e curses and swearwordscan e used that cannot e normally used within a suordinate clause. +eicticpronouns and adverials refer to the coordinates of the originator of the speech orthought, not of the narrator.

Free indirect discourse can also e descried, as a "techniue of presenting acharacters voice partly mediated y the voice of the author", or, in the words of theFrench narrative theorist erard enette, "the narrator ta!es on the speech of thecharacter, or, if one prefers, the character spea!s through the voice of the narrator,and the two instances then are merged."#%

Examples of direct, indirect, and free indirect speech

Quotedor direct speech/

e laid down his undle and thought of his misfortune. "0nd *ust whatpleasure have I found, since I came into this world1" he as!ed.

Reportedor normal indirect speech/

e laid down his undle and thought of his misfortune. e as!ed himself whatpleasure he had found since he came into the world.

Free indirect speech/

e laid down his undle and thought of his misfortune. 0nd *ust what pleasurehad he found, since he came into this world1

Usage in literature

Roy 2ascal cites oetheand 3ane 0ustenas the first novelists to use this styleconsistently.#4%e says the nineteenth century French novelistFlauertwas the firstto e consciously aware of it as a style. 5his style would e widely imitated y laterauthors, called in Frenchdiscours indirect libre. It is also !nown as estilo indirecto

librein Spanish, and is often used y 6atin 0merican writer oracio 7uiroga.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-person_narrativehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_personhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_indirect_speech#cite_note-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subordinate_clausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subordinate_clausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_clausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_clausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_clausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_indirect_speech#cite_note-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_speechhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indirect_speechhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_indirect_speech#cite_note-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flauberthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flauberthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horacio_Quirogahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horacio_Quirogahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_personhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_indirect_speech#cite_note-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subordinate_clausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subordinate_clausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_clausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_clausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_clausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_indirect_speech#cite_note-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_speechhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indirect_speechhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Austenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_indirect_speech#cite_note-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flauberthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_languagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horacio_Quirogahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-person_narrative

7/26/2019 Free Indirect Speech

2/2

In erman literature, the style, !nown as erlebte Rede(e'perienced speech), isperhaps most famous in the wor!s of Fran8 9af!a, lurring the su*ects first-persone'periences with a grammatically third-person narrative perspective.

In +anish literature, the style is attested since 6eonora :hristina($;$-$;