There definitely seems to be a conflation with the cinematic inner monologue and the literary stream of consciousness style as seen in works like Ulysses or The Sound and the Fury. Despite the fact that Stream Of Consciousness redirects here, there are zero literature examples, and even if there were, the two are very different. Stream of Consciousness isn't just a person's inner thoughts: it's a rambling stream, where an author tries to portray the flow of a character's thoughts throughout the day that can quickly switch whenever they get distracted, which is unclear and rambles on without any central topic as opposed to a monologue where a character thinks about some grand topic without any interruption. I mean, compare Shakespeare's "To be or not to be" quote from Hamlet, and the following excerpt from James Joyce's Ulysses:
To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune, Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles, And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep No more; and by a sleep, to say we end The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks That Flesh is heir to?
He bent down to regard a lean file of spearmint growing by the wall. Make a summerhouse here. Scarlet runners. Virginia creepers. Want to manure the whole place over, scabby soil. A coat of liver of sulphur. All soil like that without dung. Household slops. Loam, what is this that is? The hens in the next garden: their droppings are very good top dressing. Best of all though are the cattle, especially when they are fed on those oilcakes. Mulch of dung. Best thing to clean ladies’ kid gloves. Dirty cleans. Ashes too. Reclaim the whole place. Grow peas in that corner there. Lettuce. Always have fresh greens then. Still gardens have their drawbacks. That bee or bluebottle here Whitmonday.
He walked on. Where is my hat, by the way? Must have put it back on the peg. Or hanging up on the floor. Funny, I don’t remember that. Hallstand too full. Four umbrellas, her raincloak. Picking up the letters. Drago’s shopbell ringing. Queer I was just thinking that moment. Brown brilliantined hair over his collar. Just had a wash and brushup. Wonder have I time for a bath this morning. Tara street. Chap in the paybox there got away James Stephens they say. O’Brien.
And finally, to quote another perspective on the matter from a user on e Notes:
Stream of consciousness is not the same as interior monologue. Stream of consciousness is a combination of thoughts and reactions presented as a flow of thoughts, and not in the organized and rational way that the interior monologue occurs. The term was first coined by William James in the thesis"The Principles of Psychology". As such, the stream is more of a manifestation of what is going on inside our minds much more than an attempt at analyzing facts.
edited 19th Aug '15 4:56:10 PM by SantosLHalper
Halper's Law: as the length of an online discussion of minority groups increases, the probability of "SJW" or variations being used = 1.
There definitely seems to be a conflation with the cinematic inner monologue and the literary stream of consciousness style as seen in works like Ulysses or The Sound and the Fury. Despite the fact that Stream Of Consciousness redirects here, there are zero literature examples, and even if there were, the two are very different. Stream of Consciousness isn't just a person's inner thoughts: it's a rambling stream, where an author tries to portray the flow of a character's thoughts throughout the day that can quickly switch whenever they get distracted, which is unclear and rambles on without any central topic as opposed to a monologue where a character thinks about some grand topic without any interruption. I mean, compare Shakespeare's "To be or not to be" quote from Hamlet, and the following excerpt from James Joyce's Ulysses:
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them: to die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to?
He walked on. Where is my hat, by the way? Must have put it back on the peg. Or hanging up on the floor. Funny, I don’t remember that. Hallstand too full. Four umbrellas, her raincloak. Picking up the letters. Drago’s shopbell ringing. Queer I was just thinking that moment. Brown brilliantined hair over his collar. Just had a wash and brushup. Wonder have I time for a bath this morning. Tara street. Chap in the paybox there got away James Stephens they say. O’Brien.
And finally, to quote another perspective on the matter from a user on e Notes:
edited 19th Aug '15 4:56:10 PM by SantosLHalper
Halper's Law: as the length of an online discussion of minority groups increases, the probability of "SJW" or variations being used = 1.