Homodiegetic Narrative Voice in Sur Ranho of Shah Jo Risalo of Shah Abdul Latif

Abstract

This study explores the deployment of the homodiegetic narrative voice as one of the narrative techniques in Sur Ranho of Shah Jo Risalo of Shah Abdul Latif, the Sufi poet of Sindh, Pakistan. The transgeneric narrative theory proposed by Huhn (2004; 2005) and updated and interpreted by Nkamanyang (2008) serves as the theoretical framework as well as methodology for this study. The narrative aspects pertaining to homodiegetic narrative voice function as analytical tools for analyzing the sur understudy textually. The textual analysis of the sur revealed that Moomal, the main character in the sur, functions as the homodiegetic narrator. Ranho, Moomal’s peers, and the messengers function as her silent narratees. Moomal tells her personal experiences to her narratees by means of narrative tools of simultaneous narration and monologues. This study also demonstrates that the transgeneric narrative theory offers both the theoretical ground as well as a suitable methodology for analyzing those lyric poems which are sung in story telling tradition.