Recent Concepts of Narrative and the Narratives of Narrative Theory

Abstract

Now, is everywhere. The study of continues to grow more nuanced, capacious, and extensive as it is applied to an ever greater range of fields and disciplines, appearing more prominently in areas from philosophy and law to studies of performance art and hypertexts. Nor is there any end in sight: most important new movement in religious studies is theology, and there is even a new kind of psychological treatment called narrative therapy. Cognitive science offers experimental evidence for a claim that only recently was hyperbolic boast of a practitioner of nouveau roman: that is basic vehicle of human knowledge. Or in words of Mark Turner: imagining-story--is fundamental instrument of thought. [...] It is a literary capacity indispensable to human cognition generally (4-5). In literary, cultural, and performance studies, theory continues to expand, whether in burgeoning field of life writing or in analysis of drama or film. It is no exaggeration to say that last ten years have seen a renaissance in theory and analysis. Feminism, arguably most significant intellectual force of second half of twentieth century, has (as should be expected) utterly and fruitfully transformed theory and analysis in many ways. Virtually every component of or agent in transaction has been subjected to sustained examination, including space, closure, character, narration, reader response, linearity and sequence, and even phenomenon of itself. Some of these reconceptualizations, as Honor Wallace's article in this issue demonstrates, continue to be debated and refined. Broader-based gender criticism and queer studies steadily followed rise of feminism, some results of which are likewise evident in this issue. Though rather less work has appeared from other marginalized or minority perspectives so far, these are certainly areas that can be expected to provide significant contributions in near future. Already, several important studies are available, including work on and race, and in postcolonial studies much attention has been devoted to construction of imperial and national narratives. Other movements in critical theory from Lacanian analysis to nomadology to new historicism have been readily applied to study and have often produced impressive results. Elsewhere in field, a new kind of interdisciplinarity is quietly emerging, as developments in artificial-intelligence theory, hypertext studies, concept of possible worlds in analytical philosophy, and advances in cognitive science are applied to theory. Narrative thus seems to be a kind of vortex around which other discourses orbit in ever closer proximity. Another interesting development is represented by work of a number of younger scholars who retain analytical rigor of traditional or classical approaches while moving far beyond relatively limited theoretical parameters of structuralism to address new questions posed by postmodern texts and positionalities. These theorists (including Ruth Ronen, Tamar Yacobi, Brian McHale, Monika Fludernik, Emma Kafalenos, and Patrick O'Neill) have produced a number of groundbreaking studies that are necessitating a radical rethinking of concepts that hitherto have been foundational to theory: distinction between fabula and syuzhet, nature of time, concept of plot, notion of voice, and concept of the reader. They have applied analytical methods to irreverent postmodern practices and formulated a number of original positions. Though I suspect that some will reject name (and perhaps company) I am constructing for them, I will nevertheless refer to these works as gesturing toward a Postmodern Narratology. What is Narrative? Currently, four basic approaches to definition of are in use; we may designate these as temporal, causal, minimal, and transactional. …

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