Unnatural Narrative

<div><i>Unnatural Narrative: Theory History and Practice</i> provides the first extended account of the concepts and history of unnatural narrative. In this book Brian Richardson founder of unnatural narrative studies offers a theoretical model that can encompass antirealist and antimimetic works from Aristophanes to postmodernism. <i>Unnatural Narrative </i>begins with a sustained critique of contemporary narratology diagnosing its mimetic bias and establishing the need for a more comprehensive account. This new approach results in original theoretical insights into the basic elements of story such as beginnings sequencing temporality endings and narrative itself.<br>  <br> Applying these theoretical insights Richardson also provides a compelling alternative view of the history of narrative. He traces a genealogy of unnatural narratives from ancient Greek and Sanskrit works through medieval and renaissance fiction to eighteenth-century and romantic fiction. The study continues through the twentieth century discussing the unnatural elements of <i>Ulysses</i> and other early twentieth-century texts and engages with contemporary fiction by offering an alternative account of postmodernism. <i>Unnatural Narrative</i> makes an essential intervention in narrative theory and an important contribution to the history of the novel.</div>