Towards a Stylistic Re-Reading of John Eppel's Absent: The English Teacher
Date
2017-10-17
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Abstract
This paper seeks to articulate the reasons behind the structure and style John Eppel employs
in his novel Absent: The English Teacher. Approaches to John Eppel’s creative works have
been myopic and slight. Attention has not been paid to the technical achievements and the
deliberate construction that Eppel uses in his novel Absent: The English Teacher. This paper
eschews prior readings of this work in order to formulate a new one based on structure. By
dealing with the unusual elements of the novel the paper explains the alternative ways of
representation and storytelling found in the novel. The inclusion of certain structural elements
in the novel by Eppel is found to be deliberate. It is concluded that the structure of the novel
is appropriate to the story because of the occupation of the protagonist. Multi-genre inclusion
in the prose of the novel is identified, assessed and the impact towards its contribution to the
narrative objectives is highlighted. This paper argues that Eppel should rightly be considered
a member of the Zimbabwean literary establishment based on his innovative creativity.
Description
CITATION: Dube, N (2017) Towards a Stylistic Re-Reading of John Eppel's Absent: The English Teacher, Scrutiny2, 22:2, 82-95, doi: 10.1080/18125441.2017.1344874
The original publication is available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/
The original publication is available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/
Keywords
Zimbabwean literature, John Eppel, White African writing, Stylistic interpretation, African literature
Citation
Dube, N (2017) Towards a Stylistic Re-Reading of John Eppel's Absent: The English Teacher, Scrutiny2, 22:2, 82-95, doi: 10.1080/18125441.2017.1344874