Stream of consciousness

In literary criticism, stream of consciousness denotes a literary technique which seeks to describe an individual's point of view by giving the written equivalent of the character's thought processes. Stream-of-consciousness writing is strongly associated with the modernist movement. Its introduction in the literary context, transferred from psychology, is attributed to May Sinclair.

Stream-of-consciousness writing is usually regarded as a special form of interior monologue and is characterized by associative (and at times dissociative) leaps in syntax and punctuation that can make the prose difficult to follow, tracing as they do a character's fragmentary thoughts and sensory feelings. Stream of consciousness and interior monologue must be clearly distinguished from dramatic monologue, where the speaker is addressing an audience or a third person, and is used chiefly in poetry or drama. In stream of consciousness, the speaker's thought processes are more often depicted as overheard (or addressed to oneself) and is primarily a fictional device.

The earliest precedent of any literary work using this technique is possibly Ovid's Metamorphoses in ancient Rome. Sir Thomas Browne's discourse The Garden of Cyrus (1658,) with its rapid, unconnected association of objects, geometrical shapes and numerology, may upon close examination be considered one of the earliest examples of stream of consciousness writing. Some of the works of Gyula Krudy (The Adventures of Sindbad) also employ a technique that can in many respects be considered the forerunner of stream of consciousness. Further examples of the development of this style are The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne, (1760), The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe (1837/1838) and Édouard Dujardin's Les Lauriers sont coupés (1888). Tolstoy used something similar to the stream-of-consciousness technique in Anna Karenina (1877) in the portions leading to the climax; another early example is Arthur Schnitzler's 1900 short story Leutnant Gustl. Stream of consciousness writing gained rapid prominence in the twentieth century, particularly through the writings of Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and William Faulkner.

Several notable works employing stream of consciousness are:

• Dorothy Richardson's Pilgrimage (1915-28)
• James Joyce's Ulysses (in particular Molly Bloom's soliloquy)
• Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and The Waves
• William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying
• Robert Anton Wilson's & Robert Shea's Illuminatus!
• William Styron's Lie Down in Darkness
• Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl
• Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren
• Hubert Selby Jr.'s Last Exit to Brooklyn
• Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
• Jerzy Andrzejewski's Gates to Paradise

Brian W. Aldiss' 1969 novel Barefoot in the Head employs a stream of consciousness style as a necessary part of the plot. The leading character, a Serbian named Charteris, wanders through a Europe aerosol-bombed with a persistent chemical agent in a war between Europe and an "Arab coalition". Europeans are consequently on a permanent acid trip and are only able to think in streams of lateral associations of tangential ideas.

The technique is not also specifically confined to literary sources, and has been used in visual mediums. Most notably, the British comedy troupe Monty Python used the technique in their sketches. The technique captialises on the nonsensical absurdist humour that Python is famous for. The technique also features in the animated shorts created by Terry Gilliam for the show, which, similarly, use stream of consciousness as means to showcase absurdist humour. An example of this within their work is the famous opening scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, in which conversation progresses from a discussion about the master of the castle to African swallows, all due to the characters who speak their thoughts, nonsensical though they may be. Another example is the 'Bloody Weather' sketch.

The technique has also been parodied, notably by David Lodge in the final chapter of The British Museum Is Falling Down.