This article aims to explore the affective structure of the narrative universe in Richard Ford’s Canada through the lens of Patrick Colm Hogan’s affective narratology. We look into the affective responses provoked through the story-discourse distinction by virtue of Dell Parson’ experientiality, both functioning as the narrating self (the narrator) and the experiencing self (the focalizer) in the novel. By way of considering the story(world) of the novel (what is told) with deliberate emphasis on the characters and the setting, we will also examine the discourse as the reconstruction of the story (how it is told) which crucially comprises the plot or emplotment and narration. The objective is to shed light on the importance of the emotional affordances of experience as reflected in Ford’s novel.
