Polyphony

Polyphony is a quality in fiction where several characters' viewpoints carry genuine, independent authority, so the novel stages a real argument between them rather than settling it on the author's behalf.

The term comes from the critic Mikhail Bakhtin, writing about Dostoevsky in a book first published in 1929 and revised in 1963 as Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics. The word is borrowed from music, where polyphony means several independent melodies at once. His claim was that Dostoevsky's characters are not mouthpieces for their author: Ivan Karamazov's case against God is made as strongly as it can be made, and the novel never quietly overrules him. The book is a conversation that stays unfinished.

Polyphony vs multiple points of view

Polyphony is not the same thing as multiple points of view. A thriller can rotate through six narrators and still be what Bakhtin called monologic, because every one of them is bent toward a single conclusion the author reached before chapter one. Polyphony asks something harder: that the position you disagree with be given its strongest form.

It can happen in a single viewpoint, too. A close third person novel is polyphonic if the characters the protagonist argues with are allowed to be right.

How writers use it

In a paper on polyphony in A Visit from the Goon Squad, we looked at how Jennifer Egan gives each chapter's character a distinct voice and then has them face the same theme, lost time, in their own way. The contrast is what makes the theme visible: one character meets it with anger, another with longing, and the reader sees more than either could alone.

Practical versions of the same idea:

• Give every major character their best argument. If the antagonist's case is weak, the book is a lecture.
• Let voice reach the description. In a character's chapter, the things they notice and the words they use should be theirs, not the narrator's.
• Do not break the tie. Let the ending leave some of the argument open.

A revision check

If a multi-viewpoint manuscript feels flat despite plenty of incident, check whether any character is ever allowed to be right about something the protagonist is wrong about. If the answer is no, the viewpoints are decoration, and the reader is hearing one voice in several costumes.

Frequently asked questions

What is a polyphonic novel?

A polyphonic novel is one where several characters, each with their own voice and view of the world, argue on equal terms, and the author does not quietly decide who is right. The idea comes from Mikhail Bakhtin's study of Dostoevsky.

Where does the word polyphony come from?

It is borrowed from music, where polyphony means several independent melodies sounding at once. Bakhtin used it as a metaphor for a novel of several independent voices.

Is a novel with multiple points of view polyphonic?

Not necessarily. Several viewpoint characters can all be steered toward the same conclusion, which Bakhtin called monologic. Polyphony needs the voices to stay genuinely independent.