Editor’s Corner
April 3, 2009
Narrative Impressionism
By
Constance Hale
Because we receive many more submissions from writers than from other journalists, and because we like to evaluate print stories on their own merits as narratives, the Digest editorial group often considers the multimedia component of narratives after having formed its first impressions of the print story. (Of course, when we receive links to stories conceived as multimedia packages, we look at them as such.)
We received Thomas Curwen’s portrayal of the end of the life of a remarkable man—“Waiting for Death, Alone and Unafraid”—as a print narrative. We noticed immediately Curwen’s sure hand, with its deft metaphors and rhythmic sentences. Then we noticed a somewhat offputting absence of quotes. Curwen gave us insight into the paradox of Dr. Edwin’s Shneidman’s situation—a 90-year-old suicide-prevention expert who awaits his own death—but in place of revealing quotations he gave us a few mundane exchanges between Shneidman and his caregivers. Shneidman’s voice, it seemed, had been subsumed by the narrator’s voice—the doctor’s thoughts and yearnings rendered in Curwen’s accomplished, eloquent prose. Even if this point of view serves a stylistic purpose—in this case, underscoring that Shneidman has already effectively left his life—is it the role of the reporter to get inside a subject’s head in this way?
Then we watched Liz O. Baylen’s audio slide show. There was Shneidman, not just in full-color photos, but also in audio that captured the shaky timber of his voice and the solidity of his thoughts. The two components made a deceptively simple package, the beautifully crafted story and the beautifully crafted audio slide show adding up to a poignant whole.
And there was the answer to our question: Baylen's work made Curwen's stylistic choices make new sense. If photos and audio are available to provide character description, physical setting, and direct quotations, the writer may be freed to sculpt a different story, to exercise new prerogatives. We were reminded of the moment in the 19th century when the camera relieved painting of the need to be representational, making room for the innovations of Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism.
We will continue to watch the evolution of the narrative art with rapt attention.