Contemporary narrative

Author: (USA) Wallace Martin
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This book covers various aspects of recent narrative theories in both literary and non-literary contexts, demonstrating how these theories have changed our understanding not only of fictional works but also of non-fictional works such as biographies and historical writing. Wallace Martin repeatedly analyzes, compares, and evaluates these theories through the lens of the same few works. These examples include Katherine Mansfield's novel Happiness, Ernest Hemingway's The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, as well as a series of stories based on the traditional folk theme "The Lost and Regained Lover's Gift." Martin first describes the influential novel theories in Anglo-American literary criticism before surveying the theoretical developments of the following generation. During this period, narrative has become an international and interdisciplinary research topic. The main chapters of the book depict the shift from structural analysis of plot to detailed studies of narrative discourse, reader response, and interpretive issues. Martin examines the theories of formalism, structuralism, and semiotics in the context of their relationship to traditional literary criticism and other possible reading methods. The book concludes with considerations of the following questions: how narrative itself can break through the theories used to analyze it in various ways, and the difficulties critics and philosophers face in attempting to define "narrative" and "fiction." A bibliography organized by theme provides a selective guide to recent research on narrative theory. Contemporary Narrative Theory will be welcomed by scholars studying the novel, fictional works, and critical theory.