The solo performance of prose fiction

Abstract

Approaching literature in modal terms, this article examines aspects of prose fiction which the solo performer is especially suited to perform. When literature combines the lyric and dramatic modes, it becomes epic, a mode both defining the nature of prose fiction and creating its unusual complexity. The solo interpreter's apparent limitations can then become virtues, enabling him to enact certain epic portions of prose fiction more easily than can a group of performers, just as he is also able to perform with accurate fullness some prose fiction that is highly dramatic in mode.