"Now" within narratives of past.

Would you like to discuss the use of referenciality?

Below are some examples to kick the discussion into action. Does anyone have any objection to such usage?



"I am a little cold after all," said Father Xavier, looking at the fire regretfully. "A second till I change into my wool." His voice now came floating in from his little bedroom just beyond. "I am quite luxurious here you see," he added as he secretly put on a stole under his gown.

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200541bh.html

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"Cross-examine, Mr. Burns?" the Judge inquired. Burns nodded his head and his voice now came from the television display. "Would you say that Mr. Romano is a man of exceptional self-control and honesty, Mrs. Peters." "Yes I would, but..." Burns clipped her off.

http://www.ipma-wa.com/news/1978/197812.htm

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For example, Mrs M might begin a conversation with a friend standing in front of her, but not be able to see her friend's lips moving or facial expressions changing. And if the friend moved around behind her, Mrs M might continue to "see" him in front of her, even though his voice now came from behind. She might see a car "frozen" a considerable distance from her, but find, when she tried to cross the road, that it was now almost upon her; she would see a "glacier", a frozen arc of tea coming from the spout of the teapot, but then realise that she had overfilled the cup, and that there was now a puddle of tea on the table. Such a condition was utterly bewildering, and sometimes quite dangerous.

http://afr.com/articles/2004/01/22/1074732537267.html

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A dull thrumming noise started up, and the techs cleared away from Green 1 as it lifted off the ground and was slowly pulled over to the launch pad by the internal tractor arrays.
Arthas tapped his badge twice. His voice now came from the intercom system in the hangar. "All hands, clear the launch path. All pilots, to your fighters. Prepare for scramble launch."

http://www.trekwarfare.org/forum/showthread.php?p=568

M56

[Tdol]

I stuck a poll up on whether 'now' could be used with the past, and the majority said it couldn't, which surprises me because the use is far from uncommon, and often cannot be replaced with 'then'very easily, or at all.

Originally Posted by tdol

I stuck a poll up on whether 'now' could be used with the past, and the majority said it couldn't, which surprises me because the use is far from uncommon, and often cannot be replaced with 'then'very easily, or at all.

I think polls are no use on this item. Folks have to see context.

Originally Posted by tdol

I stuck a poll up on whether 'now' could be used with the past, and the majority said it couldn't, which surprises me because the use is far from uncommon, and often cannot be replaced with 'then'very easily, or at all.

Yes, I agree. If I replace it, as below, the time and place of the writer and reader are in the present of the nonfiction world and they look back on a moment. If one desires to suddenly place the reader in the present of the fiction world, one can use "now".

<A dull thrumming noise started up, and the techs cleared away from Green 1 as it lifted off the ground and was slowly pulled over to the launch pad by the internal tractor arrays.
Arthas tapped his badge twice. His voice then came from the intercom system in the hangar. "All hands, clear the launch path. All pilots, to your fighters. Prepare for scramble launch.">

[Tdol]

I think a lot of people may not realise that they use it as much as they do. You could substitue it for 'then' in the example, but it wouldn't flow as smoothly.