por What is the lyrical speaker?
He lyrical speaker is the voice of the poem or narrative. This person should not be confused with the author of the text. It is the literary self that enunciates what is said in a work.
The lyrical speaker is the narrative voice of a text, that is, he is who the reader must imagine as the narrator of the text that transmits and expresses the emotions.
Poets use the figure of the lyrical speaker to have more freedom in their creations, since this narrator can evoke emotions and experiences that are not necessarily linked to the poet. In other words, the lyrical speaker is a fictitious sender who is in charge of counting.
This narrator can take different voices and attitudes, depending on what the author wants to convey. In this way, the voice of the lyrical speaker can be in the first or third person, he can have a melancholic, in love, determined, or sad attitude.
A poem can have one or several lyrical speakers. The narrator can be the speaker, the poet, or an observer who speaks of both the author and the speaker. Either way, the lyrical speaker must always be treated as a fictional character.
The narration made by the lyrical speaker in the first person is known as a dramatic monologue. In this figure, the poet creates a character who is in charge of holding a conversation with himself as a monologue.
Who is the lyrical speaker?
The lyrical speaker is a conventional literary figure. It should never be confused with the author, because through this speaker the author invents or expresses many and varied emotions. In this way, although the author speaks in the first person, from the literary analysis he is taken into account as one more character.
The speaker is the voice of the poem or novel, who we imagine is speaking and to whom we attribute the attitudes and emotions described in the text.
It should be clarified that, even if the text is biographical, the speaker is not necessarily the author, since the author is choosing what he says about himself, as if an outside person were narrating it. To give an example, it can be said that the speaker is the actor behind the scenes who describes the emotions and situations of the writer.
The lyrical speaker is the fictitious character created by the writer to speak freely from different perspectives about topics foreign to him, such as race, gender, and even material objects. This character is the «I» that speaks and can be identified by the reader.
An example of who the lyrical speaker is can be seen in the poem «The Raven» by Edgar Allan Poe. In this text, the lyrical speaker is a lonely man missing his lost love (Eleanor), not Edgar Allan Poe.
Despite the fact that the poem is written in the first person, the reader can infer that the speaker is not the author. This is not to say that the author was not inspired by events in his life to write the poem.
Difference Between Lyrical Speaker and Alter Ego
The definition of lyrical speaker is commonly confused with the definition of alter ego. However, these concepts are different. An alter ego, pseudonym, or heteronym is simply the name the author adopts to hide her identity.
The alter ego, despite being considered a «second self» that inhabits the same body, is not considered a lyrical speaker, since at no time does the alter ego cease to be the author of the text.
In other words, the alter ego continues to represent the author materially, while the speaker represents what the author wants to explore through the emotions and feelings of different fictional characters.
Function of the lyrical speaker
The function of the lyrical speaker is to allow the author to convey his ideas in a more active way. In this way, the lyrical speaker fulfills the role of transmitter of the message that the writer wants to share with his audience.
It can be affirmed that the speaker is a revealing agent of experiences and of the emotions that these experiences inspire in him.
It also fulfills the function of giving greater creative freedom to the writer, who can project himself as another person and develop a different personality to talk about topics that are not necessarily familiar to him.
When the writer uses this personality to develop and narrate an entire poem, the poem is called a dramatic monologue. This monologue is characterized by being a conversation that the speaker has with himself.
voice and attitude
There are different types of voices that the lyrical speaker can adopt. Among the most common are the voice of the author and the voice of the character.
Voice of the author: for this type of voice, the author uses a fragment of his life and his own style.
Character Voice: This is the voice of the character narrating the text from their own perspective. The writer usually chooses the type of narrator that he wants to use for the writing. He usually speaks in the first or third person.
The lyrical speaker also assumes an attitude when narrating the poem or novel. He may be sad, angry, hopeful, depressed, anxious, mischievous, or in love, among others. Once the type of voice that the speaker will have is defined, it is important to choose the type of attitude that he is going to take.
The attitude is linked to the subject of which the voice speaks. If the voice talks about war, it is possible that the attitude of the speaker is sad or dynamic.
It is possible that, if the author has personal memories of the war, the attitude changes and is oriented to his personal experiences. Usually, it is difficult to determine to what extent the text given by the author is purely fictional or actually includes material from the author’s experience.
The speaker’s voice and attitude also depend on the emotion the writer wants to evoke in the reader. It is possible that, if the author has a strong position in relation to a specific topic, he wants to convey this position to the reader.
Some authors refer to the speaker’s attitude as the tone he assumes. One of the most common problems readers face when identifying tone is finding the word that best describes it. For this purpose, qualifying adjectives such as «happy» or «sad» are usually used.
Steps to identify the lyrical speaker
There are a number of steps that readers can use to identify who is the lyrical speaker in a poem:
Read the entire poem without stopping
Once this first reading is finished, you should write what was the immediate impression you had of the speaker. In the same way, the type of speaker that is being imagined should be noted. The first complete impression generated by the speaker should be noted.
Read the entire poem again, stopping to ask “what is the poem about?”
Attention should be paid to the title of the poem, as it almost always gives a clue about the situation and the meaning of the poem. Another key element to answer this question is to identify the points that the author emphasizes through repetitions.
Sometimes the author reveals the emotions and tone of the speaker by emphasizing the theme of the poem.
Determine the context of the poem
What is happening when the poem begins? What is the topic that the speaker is dealing with? This scenario must be described in images that allow locating the place where the text takes place. Is it a city, a general or specific location?
Examine the type of language used by the speaker
In this way it is possible to know if this character speaks colloquially or formally and to which elements he gives more importance. Language largely determines the attitude of the speaker.
Determine the main emotion conveyed by the poem
Does the speaker speak in a reflective or extroverted tone? Do you read a pessimistic or optimistic attitude? Does it have a fluid or chaotic rhythm? By analyzing the words used by the speaker, different moods, colors, sounds and images can be inferred. This information helps to more accurately determine who the speaker is.
Write a short description of the speaker
Your physical appearance, age, gender, social class, and any details that allow the reader to bring the speaker to life should be included. If the poem lacks details about the speaker, one can take the context of the poem to speculate what his appearance may be.
References
Literary Speakers. Retrieved from poetryarchive.org.
Lyric Epiphanies and Speakers. Retrieved from academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu.
THE WRITER’S HANDBOOK. Retrieved from writing.wisc.edu.
Definition of Person. Retrieved from literarydevices.net.