Narratives and Poetic Register

In the chapter six of The Structure of English for Readers, Writers, and Teachers, Mary M. Clark says “the social meaning or register of a word is the social context in which the word is normally used…. The basic choices for register are formal, informal, and neutral, but there are also more specific registers such as medical (laryngology), legal (habeas corpus), or educational (heterogeneous grouping)” (Clark 119). This made sense; however, I was not expecting Clark to say “the author has chosen vocabulary from the poetic register” (Clark 130) when describing a passage from James Joyce’s Araby. The idea of poetic register took me by surprise. Is there a social context for poetry even when the work is not a poem? Did Joyce intend this context or did it come naturally to him? Beyond having a special audience or choosing from the basic choices, do writers conscientiously consider register in their narratives? I had a lot of questions. I also wondered what it might mean for me as a writer and poet.

I did a few internet searches for tone, social context, register, and diction. I was unable to find analysis of Joyce’s writing that answered any of my questions. I did learn that Joyce was a high modernist and a poet as well as a novelist. It would not surprise me to learn that a poetic narrative would come naturally to him as a poet but I have no proof of it. For the time being, that question will remain unanswered. Whether Joyce intended a poetic register in Araby, the poetic words, the alliterative devices and the use of metaphor support a poetic narrative in the passage.

I can’t say whether writers intend to use a poetic register. I know that as a writer I have intentionally written in specific registers: formal, informal, neutral, and technical. I have thought about the speech of individual characters; I haven’t given thought to the idea of a narrative being written in a specific register. I shall certainly do so from now on.