ENGL
80600. “Contemporary Narrative Theory”. David Richter. 2/4 credits. Tuesdays
4:15PM-6:15PM. [CRN 17360].
Syllabus (as of January 11--will be updated)
Course Description
After a brief but respectful glance at early twentieth
century narrative theory (Henry James's The
Art of Fiction; E.M. Forster's Aspects
of the Novel; M.M. Bakhtin's Discourse
in the Novel), the course will move to the two most fertile sources
of contemporary narratology, Wayne C. Booth's The Rhetoric of Fiction and Gérard
Genette's Narrative
Discourse: An Essay in Method. From this point the course will
explore four principal branches of contemporary narrative theory: (1)
rhetorical narratology, including theorists such as Seymour Chatman,
James Phelan, Peter Rabinowitz, and David Richter; (2) cognitive narratology,
including theorists such as David Herman, Alan Palmer, Marie-Laure Ryan, and
Lisa Zunshine; (3) postmodern narratology, adapting narrative theory to
experimental, minimally mimetic texts, including theorists such as Brian McHale
and Brian Richardson; and (4) identity narratology (my shorthand term for
theories that view gender/race/class/national identity markings as central
rather than peripheral to the reading of narratives), including theorists such
as Susan Sniader Lanser, Gerald Prince, and Robyn Warhol.
Readings will include essays by theorists such
as those listed above. In addition, we will have access to the MS of Practicing Narrative Theory,
a book to be published in 2012, in which theorists of the four branches wrestle
with some of the key concepts they hold in common (authors, narrators,
narration; plot and progression; character; narrative worlds; space and
setting; reception and the reader; ethical and aesthetic values).
It will be important to have a group of narratives that all of us know in
detail, and in the first place would have to come the texts that are used by
the writers of Practicing Narrative Theory: Mark Twain's Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn, Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach, Salman Rushdie's Midnight's
Children, and Jane Austen's Persuasion. In addition I will assign a group of
short stories, novellas and short novels that will come up later in the term.
Please check the announcements page for the course on BlackBoard for the most
recent details.
Written Work. No term paper. Students
will give an oral report in which they apply a theoretical model to a narrative
text, and will write three short (1000-1500 word) papers (counting a write-up
of the oral report) in which they attempt to apply three different
narratological models to the same literary text.
Tentative Schedule
Note: This schedule is a "sketch": I have used "TBA" to suggest that other readings will be assigned, which sounds mighty vague. In fact MOST of the readings are already available to the class on BlackBoard. You can log in and download to your heart's content.
I am in the process of deciding which readings we should ALL read to discuss in class and which ones are merely recommended. Obviously we should all read everything. But in the real world we need to keep the number of readings down so we can discuss their issues intensively.
Reminder: the exemplary fictions used by the authors of PNT are: (1) Mark Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; (2) Ian McEwan: On Chesil Beach; (3) Jane Austen: Persuasion; (4) Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children.
January 31: Organizational meeting, opening remarks on the prehistory of narratology (especially Henry James, E.M. Forster, and M.M. Bakhtin).
February 7: Classical and rhetorical narratology, with special attention to Gerard Genette and Wayne C. Booth. Readings: Monica Fludernik's brief "History of Narrative Theory from Structuralism to the Present" already available on the BlackBoard "Course Documents" tab. Gerard Genette's chapter "Mood" from Narrative Discourse. Wayne Booth's "Types of Narration" and "Distance in Emma" from The Rhetoric of Fiction.
February 14: CUNY is on a Monday schedule.
February 21: Practicing Narrative Theory: Introduction: The Approaches. Additional Readings: Susan Lanser: "Sexing the Narrative" (and the Gerald Prince essay with which it is in dialogue). Jan Alber et al.: "Unnatural Narratives, Unnatural Narratologies." Alan Palmer: "The Construction of Fictional Minds."
February 28: PNT Chapter 2 (Authors, Narrators, Narration). Additional Readings: Ansgar Nünning: "Deconstructing and Reconceptualizing the Implied Author" [ordered from ILL, available soon]. William Nelles: "Historical and Implied Authors."
March 6th: PNT Chapter 3 (Plot, Progression, Time).
March 13: PNT Chapter 4 (Narrative Worlds: Space, Setting, Perspective) plus readings TBA.
March 20: PNT Chapter 5 (Character) plus readings TBA.
March 27: PNT Chapter 6 (Reception and the Reader) plus readings TBA.
April 3: PNT Chapter 7 (Narrative Values, Aesthetic Values) plus readings on narrative ethics TBA.
April 10: Spring Vacation
April 17: Comparing the methods: what works how well on what. Readings will include the "responses" sections of PNT (Chapters 8-11).
April 24: Special topics 1. Adaptation across media. Readings TBA.
May 1: Special topics 2. Graphic media and music: how do paintings and musical compositions tell stories? Readings will include: Susan McClary, "The Impromptu That Trod on a Loaf: How Music Tells Stories." Royal Brown, "Music as/in Cine-Narrative." Peter Rabinowitz, "Music, Genre, and Narrative Theory"
May 8-May 22: Special topics suggested by the seminar participants.