The role of the storyteller in post-colonial literature (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombia, Mario Vargas Llosa, Peru, John Banville, Ireland, Brian Friel, Northern Ireland)

Twentieth century post-colonial literature seeks to reforge binding identities for long-subjugated nations by bridging past and present. This thesis discusses how four post-colonial writers have explored the importance of "storyteller" characters in five works: One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez); Death In The Andes and The Storyteller (Mario Vargas Llosa); Birchwood (John Banville) and Dancing at Lughnasa (Brian Friel). The relevant characters are examined under the headings: the Storyteller, the Supernatural and the Wandering Bard. They are found to serve similar roles in works from different parts of the world---linking past with present, spanning the chasm between natural and supernatural and defining communities from within and without. The storyteller characters' intrinsic paradoxes, to travel yet remain constant, to belong yet remain different, are highlighted. Through the mediation of a storyteller, modern-day peoples are allowed insights into their past which help them to comprehend their very existence.