Narrative in Fiction and Film An Introduction

This introductory book presents key concepts of narrative theory (or "narratology") and analyses five prose texts--the parable of the sower in St. Mark's Gospel, Franz Kafka's The Trial, James Joyce's 'The Dead', Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse--by applying the principles of narrative theory. This book also discusses film versions of four of these texts: Orson Welles's The Trial, John Huston's The Dead, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, and Colin Gregg's To the Lighthouse. By lucidly presenting the concepts of narrative theory and illustrating and testing these concepts Narrative in Fiction and Film will be an invaluable text for undergraduates studying narrative theory as part of a literature or film studies course.

Narrative in Fiction and Film gives a clear presentation of key concepts of narrative theory. A growing field in the humanities, narrative theory (or 'narratology') studies such narratives, thus discussing central questions concerning human communication. This introductory book has a two-part structure: Part I presents key concepts of narrative theory - for example, author, narrator, time, perspective, event, characterization. The discussion is oriented towards narrative fiction and centred on literary texts, yet since film can also have an important narrative dimension, the film aspect is brought into each chapter. Part II analyses five prose texts: the parable of the sower in St. Mark's Gospel, Franz Kafka's The Trial, James Joyce's 'The Dead', Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse. Part II also discusses film versions of four of these texts: Orson Welles's The Trial, John Huston's The Dead, Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, and Colin Gregg's To the Lighthouse. The book brings together and lucidly presents concepts and theories in narrative theory, and illustrates and tests theses theories. It will be an invaluable text for undergraduates studying narrative theory as part of a literature or film studies course.

1 - Introduction
2 - Narrative Communication
3 - Narrative Time and Repetition
4 - Events, Characters, and Characterization
5 - From the parable of the sower to Franz Kafka's The Trial and Orson Welles's The Trial
6 - James Joyce's 'The Dead' and John Huston's The Dead
7 - Josep Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now
8 - Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse and Colin Gregg's To the Lighthouse

Jakob Lothe is Professor of English Literature at the University of Oslo. His books include Conrad's Narrative Method (1989), and he is a contributor to the Cambridge Companions to Thomas Hardy and Joseph Conrad.