The Theory of Suggestion in Modern literature

Abstract:

To suggest, is a very natural human activity. When it comes to literature, therefore, which tries to capture every human experience, it takes the form of a technique of literary expression. The formal study of a literary work, thus, involves an analysis of the language and linguistic technique it employs. Language, along with various other constituents such as imagery, prosody, etc, coherently gives a unique identity to the work. Suggestion and Statement, thus, form a part of this analysis. Often these two common-looking terms are confused with each other. The aim of this assignment is to look at how suggestion has been a common technique of using the literary language for narration as well as poetic expression; and how the technique is employed in literary modernism. It takes into account, Krishna Rayan’s critical work on Suggestion for its purpose.

Suggestion and Statement: How do they differ?  

According to Krishna Rayan, “The distinction between the language of literature and that of non-literature has been formulated in various ways; but the most efficient description of the difference by far is the one which ascribes two functions to language in general: the first being statement (i.e., generation of literal, denotational, logical, explicit meaning) and the second suggestion (i.e., generation of unexpressed, multiple, indeterminate meaning).” (Rayan) Thus, for Rayan, Suggestion is the differentia i.e., a distinguishing characteristic of literary language. For Rayan therefore, Suggestion deals with the metaphoric or symbolic language which later helps in the composition of the aesthetic expression in the literary work. However, this distinction can be understood even by someone who hasn’t studied or read literature. The fact that literary language is the one which is full of ornamentation is, in my opinion, quite an outdated idea. And therefore, Rayan’s later idea, regarding the same, seems to be more convincing. She states, “Describing suggestion and statement as mutually repugnant categories co-terminus respectively with imaginative and informative writing is an over simplification.” (Rayan)

Thus, understanding statement and suggestion merely as distinguishing techniques for informative and imaginative writing or narration would be a mistake. It would become quite a Classical idea if they would be understood so. The reason behind not simplifying is given by Rayan herself, when she argues that, “In literature, the presence of statement is often legitimized by certain special or local artistic purposes.” (Rayan) This reminds us of the Romantic idea of using a simplified language in poetry. Often when a poet uses a statement instead of a suggestion in poetry, it is appropriated by arguing that he/she wanted to capture a realistic picture or wanted to stay true to the natural way of speaking; which is again a misunderstanding regarding everyday conversations and the role of literary language. It is advisable, therefore, to understand both these terms as, in Rayan’s words, “opposite poles, with a given work or a given part of a work locating itself at a point somewhere between them.” (Rayan) Thus, the relation of suggestion, with that of statement, is a hierarchical one.

It is important to note that, Rayan, being a scholar in Indian Aesthetics would at some point seem very biased towards Suggestion; so much so that for her, ‘suggestion becomes the very essence of literariness’. Also note that for her, ‘the aesthetic worth of a work varies in direct proportion to the degree of preponderance in it of suggestion over statement’. However, her arguments are worth taking note of, while dealing with any literary work; especially modern literary works.

The important function of Suggestion:

While discussing the operation and function of Suggestion in a literary work, Rayan states certain fundamental human emotions and experiences which again resemble, the nine Rasas of Indian Aesthetics. She further argues that, “It is only in terms of one or the other of these emotions (or exceptionally in terms of a mix of some of them) that a work of art becomes comprehensible as totality.” (Rayan) So, for Rayan, therefore, these emotions contribute, not just to the aesthetic experience of the work, but also to its formal structure; since the writer or artist employs various techniques for developing them in his/her audience/readers. The same argument is further justified by her assertion that emotions and states of mind ‘can never be expressed by naming or affirming; they can only be presented in the work, and realized in the reader’s consciousness, by being suggested through their objective correlatives’. And this is what, according to Rayan, is the important function or operation of Suggestion.

If we observe the argument regarding the expression of states of mind, we are reminded of Northrop Frye’s explanation concerning the creation of Archetypes. Therefore, when a writer or artist attempts to present the states of mind into an artistic work, he/she does so by assigning them to the objective correlatives; which later becomes a common practice and ultimately culminates into an archetype.

Modern Literature and Suggestion:

                                                                             

Modern literature, as we know, has always been understood as a genre which breaks all generalizations, which stands against every traditional mode of writing. Also, as Rayan, mentions in her work that, apart from the ‘nameable’ and ‘classifiable’ emotions; modern literature concerns itself more with the ‘deeper, less accessible recesses of mind’. Thus, for modern literature, it is almost impossible to avoid or not use suggestion. And hence, we have such a tremendous use of myths, imagery, metaphors, symbols, etc (which from now on will be referred to as suggestors) in most of the major, characteristically modern works. This helps modern literature to express, in Rayan’s words, ‘obscure mental events’.

For Rayan, the most important suggester is the image. Consequently, its two major functions in a literary work are that of being a metaphor and of being the medium of plurivocity (expressing multiple voices). It caters to the ‘sub-surface level of narration in modern literature’ which, according to Rayan, is the familiar feature of the genre. The question which arises as a result of this is: what kind of image does a modern literary work use? The answer’s quite simple.

Modern literature as we know isn’t concentrated on the production of ‘a meaning’, but rather on the open-endedness of a text and its generation of multiple meanings and interpretations. Therefore, it becomes obvious that the image, as a suggester, is central to modern literature. The images which modernists use often cater to the socio-cultural as well as politico-religious conditions of the time. Thus, we observe a wide range of images originating from myths but being reworked and reinterpreted at the same time. However, the image is central quite exclusively, to poetry. The best example to explain this would be T.S Eliot’s The Waste Land, which is considered as the modern epic. The Waste Land with its  wide range of images and symbols as well as reworking of myths, provides a good example of how suggestion works in modern literary texts. What Eliot suggests through his work is a dystopic image or situation of the world which resulted during and after the Great War.

When it comes to drama, it takes the name of the scene. We are acquainted with the fact that, in Rayan’s words, “The scene—sensuous, concrete, temporally and spatially specific—is the principal means of ‘showing’ which is the dominant procedure of modern fiction as opposed to ‘telling’ which traditional fiction favoured.” (Rayan). And therefore, as Rayan rightly observes, ‘immediate scene, which embodies complex unstated meaning, shares the nature of image’.

Take for instance, the trends like Stream of Consciousness or The Theatre of Absurd. Neither of them ever, would ‘tell’ the audience, anything regarding the theme or purpose or characters, they would just ‘project’ or ‘show’ them on the screen or on the stage. It would be on the spectator or the reader to decipher the meaning or purpose behind such projections. Therefore, in drama, the scene becomes the image. It carries the same function as the image does in poetry. Not just in the works falling under these titles, but more generally in modern fiction, the use of silences, pauses, ellipsis, fragmentary utterances, etc are a common occurrence. In Rayan’s opinion, these are the ‘negative sources of suggested meaning; which are as productive as the positive source like image’. The reason why such gaps and pauses can be called productive is because, in Rayan’s opinion, they make the reader competent enough to become creative and fill in the inter-space with his/her own meaning. Thus, in our process of making sense of a particular absurd scene, we create meaning for ourselves, we create a story for ourselves. Therefore, we can’t actually call such gaps, pauses, silences as negative. In fact they reflect the uncertainty, instability, hopelessness, etc of the modern life.

Rayan, then moves on to how rhythm and vocabulary are useful for suggestion. Rhythm,Rayan argues, “can suggest either by being incantatory or by acting as an iconic sign signifying a particularized experience. Similarly, vocabulary can, on one hand, be vague and general and by reason of its evocativeness and range of associations, can suggest diffuse indistinct meaning; on the other hand, by its particularity, subtlety and delicacy, it can point to precise unstated meanings.” (Rayan)

The fact that it is easy to incantate someone with the use of rhythm and vocabulary, is quite obvious. However, when it comes to literature, people rarely can decipher when they are being incantated by the vocabulary of the character or of the narrator. They hardly realize the writer’s attempt at grabbing their attention. And this is where suggestion plays a role. We seldom pay attention to the suggested meanings presented to us through the use of fragmented utterances, pauses or silences; or even to the unnecessary use of a torrent of language. Thus, if we observe closely, modern literature, focuses a lot on, in Rayan’s words, ‘the verbal texture’ of the work. The vocabulary a modern literary work uses, is never to ‘state’ but rather to ‘suggest’.

Conclusion:

Whether it is image, rhythm, or vocabulary, or any other source of the practice, it can be inferred from the above discussion, as well as through various other observations(which includes a thorough reading of a modern text) that suggestion, is central to modern literary writing. Of course, certain arguments of Rayan or even of this assignment, might appear to be questionable or doubtful, it is worth taking a note of.

Works Cited

Rayan, Krishna. "A Theory of Suggestion: A Summary Statement." Indian Literature 28.4(108) (1985): 5. web. 26 September 2019. <https://www.jstor.org/stable/24158034>.