Extended Essays 2021

“ from the very first page you realise that the novel you are holding has nothing to do with the

one you were reading yesterday ” 27 proving his use of temporal distortion.

By ‘splitting’ the novel “you” read into multiple pos sibilities, Calvino also engages the Reader

Response Theory. Calvino addresses that “ everything has already begun before, the first line

of the first page of every novel refers to something that has already happened outside the

book ” 28 , reminding readers not to become uncritically engrossed in the novel. His use of

temporal distortion reminds readers that if they are not engaged while reading, they may miss

something.

According to historical world-context- centred approaches, ‘the world of the text reflected

universal truths about the human condition and nature in general’. Calvino uses “you” to make

the second person chapters as engaging and relatable to the readers as possible to support this

approach, allowing his use of postmodern techniques to stand out as contemporary amongst

the historical. Overall, the use of temporal distortion ensures readers remain critical and

engaged in the novel, and its complexities.

In terms of historical approaches, there is no reliable, omniscient narrator in IOAWNAT to

present all information to readers, allowing them to ‘engage with the text based on personal

experiences’ 29 . Calvino uses temporal distortion to prove that the narrator is unreliable, and

keep readers critically engaged, as they must decipher the complexities of his contemporary

approaches without information that the narrator has omitted. Because of this, the narrator can

27 IOAWNAT – Page 33 28 IOAWNAT – Page 153 29 Approaches to Reading Practices. QCAA, 2011

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