The Power of Point of View

Tag: character

S.B.L. Book Review Session on “Perspective Criticism” (part 7): Response to Yamasaki’s Response

by STEVE BLACK   I am beginning to think that I am not sure that I find Yamasaki’s concept of “point of view character” to be useful. I prefer simply to think of “point of view” rather than “point of view character.” In essence, point of view is the point of entry that the narrator gives to… Read More ›

S.B.L. Book Review Session on “Perspective Criticism” (part 6): Response to Whitlock Review

by GARY YAMASAKI   Matt’s review of Perspective Criticism provides a relatively rare perspective, that of a biblical scholar who is also a literary critic trained in the study of the modern novel. Such a perspective is most welcomed in the discussion of point-of-view crafting, a topic right in the wheelhouse of literary critics, but so foreign… Read More ›

S.B.L. Book Review Session on “Perspective Criticism” (part 3)

by STEVE BLACK   Gary Yamasaki’s Perspective Criticism uses “point-of-view analysis” as a means to clarify puzzling passages in the Bible. Through point of view, the reader experiences characters as remote or close. If they are viewed as close, then they are also viewed sympathetically, and this can result in a merger of sorts between reader… Read More ›

SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE Book Review Session on “Perspective Criticism” (part 1)

by FRANCIS LANDY   Perspective Criticism is a wonderfully enjoyable book, which shows us how the manipulation of the point of view of the reader facilitates identification or dissociation from characters, and thus conditions our emotional and evaluative response. Gary intersperses discussions of films, in which point of view is the result of the combination of… Read More ›

Does Acts 6:5 function to establish Stephen as a Point-of-View Character?

by GARY YAMASAKI   A previous post suggested the “badge of reliability” may qualify as an ideological-plane device for leading readers to experience a specific narrative event through the point of view of a particular character. This post looks to a textual feature of the Book of Acts as a possible means by which the badge of… Read More ›

Moving conversation with Tannehill to “Micro-View” of Ideological Plane (part 5)

by GARY YAMASAKI   In response to my question “through whose perspective an audience is being led to experience the action,” Robert Tannehill responded that it is the “ideological perspective of the implied author. . .the perspective of the work as a whole as a complex of interacting parts, dynamically arranged.” And while what he says… Read More ›

In Response to Yamasaki’s Query on Ideological-Plane Dynamics (part 4)

by ROBERT TANNEHILL   This comment continues the conversation with Gary Yamasaki which began with his post on the ideological plane of point of view. I recognize the distinction that Yamasaki makes in his rejoinder post between the ideological plane and the ideological “matrixes” of the implied author and the characters. If one wished to do a thorough… Read More ›

Toward Further Clarification of the Ideological (or Evaluative) Plane of Point of View (part 2)

by ROBERT TANNEHILL   In this post, Gary Yamasaki rightly points out that ideological point of view cannot be reduced to theological belief, and that the ideological plane is more complex than the other planes. However, it would have been helpful to add the reason for that complexity: all the other planes contribute to the ideological… Read More ›

The Ideological Plane of Point of View: “so crucial, yet so misunderstood” (part 1)

by GARY YAMASAKI   The concluding paragraph of this post mentions that much work needs to be done to clarify the role of the ideological plane of point of view in a storyteller’s efforts to dictate through whose point of view their audience experiences a given event, and this post constitutes a first step in that regard. Of… Read More ›

The Acts of God Through the Perspectives of the Apostles

by MATTHEW WHITLOCK   Sometimes perspective criticism begins not by asking what is seen, but by asking what is not seen. The Blair Witch Project—unlike the reveal-all horror movies of today—never shows its antagonist. The audience never sees the Blair Witch. They only hear rumors about her and see the results of her actions. Similarly, Alfred… Read More ›

Sympathizing with a Most Unexpected Character in Mark

by STEVE BLACK   It has been argued that point of view can be used as a means of getting the reader to sympathize with a given character. Yamasaki argued additionally “if readers are led to have a subjective experience of a character—another way of saying ‘viewing the events of the story line through a character’s point… Read More ›

Narration in Film: Edward Branigan on Point of View versus Focalization

by LAURA COPIER   In this short post, I’d like to introduce  one of the key works in the field of narration and film: Edward Branigan’s 1992 study Narrative Comprehension and Film. For a thorough introduction to cinematic narration and its links to literary devices  I would suggest reading Branigan in tandem with David Bordwell’s monumental … Read More ›

The First-Person Narration in Ezra as a Point-of-View Issue

by MARK BODA   Much ink has been spilled over the past century over the controversial shifts in person in the account of Ezra in Ezra 7-10. The account begins in 7:1-11 with a third person account about Ezra which introduces a document written in the first person voice of King Artaxerxes, commissioning Ezra for service… Read More ›

Responding to How Seaman Would Craft a Performance of Mark 6:49-52

by GARY YAMASAKI   Over the past month, Leon Seaman has contributed two posts addressing ways in which attention to point-of-view dynamics impacts his performance of Mark. The earlier one–Perspective in Live Performance: To Embody or Not to Embody?–focuses on how he embodies certain characters–that is, mimics their speech and gestures–and does not embody others, and… Read More ›