Fictional and historical narrative strategies in the writings of R.M. Koster

Abstract

This dissertation concerns R.M. Roster's first three novels. The Tinieblas Trilogy, a fourth novel entitled Carmichael's Dog, and his non-fictional account of Panamanian history, in The Time o f The Tyrants. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to acquaint readers with Roster’s writing, to describe how plots unfold and characters develop; second, to examine the various narrative strategies at work in the texts, the ways ' Roster constructs through language his "fictional” Latin American Republic of Tinieblas and his “non-fictional” history of Panama. The dissertation demonstrates how Roster’s narrative strategies in these writings serve to undermine stable, singular textual interpretation.