Thinking about the Epigraph

An epigraph is a quotation at the beginning of a novel or a part (e.g. chapter) of a novel. Its presence in the novel suggests that the author sees, and wants us to see, some connection between it and the novel. Like the Title and the Author’s Note, the epigraph is a tool authors use to guide their readers’ approach to the novel. It is, however, less direct and more complex than the Author’s Note. And it can be used in many ways, depending on how creative or playful the author is.

Since there’s quite a lot of information about the epigraph available on the Internet, I shall just provide here a brief overview of some of its basic functions, so that we can see why paying attention to the epigraph is crucial to one’s understanding of a novel.

· Sources of the epigraph

Most of the time, the epigraph is a quotation from another literary work, e.g. a poem, a play, or another work or fiction. But there is really no limit to the sources an author can make use of. It can be a philosophical or historical work, the Bible or some other religious text, a technical manual, someone’s speech, a pop song, a newspaper headline, or even an advertising slogan.

Sometimes, epigraphs are quotations from imaginary works by the author’s imaginary characters. In the Dune novels, for instance, Frank Herbert uses quotations from an imaginary history of the fictional events written sometime in the future by one of the characters.

In Possession, A. S. Byatt uses both real and imaginary sources. The epigraphs to the novel are from real writers, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Robert Browning. But within the novel, each chapter begins with a quotation from the imaginary writings of the fictional poet, R. H. Ash, who is a character in the novel.

In The Shipping News, we find an interesting type of epigraph: drawings of knots from The Ashley Book of Knots. It has been noted by reviewers and critics that the knots are used by fishermen in Newfoundland, which is where the novel is set. For those who know a lot about knots and Newfoundland, they must have a great deal of meaning. I have never been to Newfoundland and my mastery of knots is limited to the reef knot, but at a metaphorical level, I respond to the thought association between the knots and the main character. The main character is a man who strikes me as inarticulate and ill-at-ease with himself, and this portrayal is reinforced by the pictures of the knots, which bring to my mind phrases like “tongue-tied”, “tied up in knots”, or “all knotted up inside”.

· Functions of the epigraph

The protean nature of the epigraph suggests that its functions are not always straightforward. Here are some of the questions a reader might want to ask when trying to decide on the function or functions of an epigraph.

o Does it help to set the tone for the narrative that follows?

o Does it highlight and summarize the narrative theme or themes?

o Is the epigraph used in some way to make a comment on the characters in the novel (or in the chapter, if the epigraph heads a chapter)?

o Are there certain thoughts in the epigraph that the writer then proceeds in the novel or chapter to illustrate or make concrete through fictional narrative?

o Does it invite the reader to make certain comparisons between the novel and the source-text (i.e. the work from which the quotation is taken)?

o Is the writer using it to launch a sort of dialogue with the source-text or its author?

o Is the epigraph being used by the writer to make an ironic comment on a character or situation in the novel?

o Is the epigraph being used by the writer as an authority to justify his/her views or narrative method?

Naturally, if the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then the reader has to look for evidence in the novel to support the answer.

All the above is somewhat theoretical. So next time, I’ll illustrate what I mean by discussing my approach to the epigraph in the Malaysian novel, Flowers in the Sky.