Metafiction, according to Patricia Waugh, consists of ‘the construction of a fictional illusion (as in traditional realism) and the laying bare of that illusion’. Tristram Shandy, I will argue in this essay, undermines fictional illusion by foregrounding ‘the most fundamental set of all narrative conventions: those concerning the representations of time’ (Waugh 70). I will exemplify this by trying to apply a conventional set of narratological terms to Tristram Shandy. I will show that these terms, which are based on conventional narratives, are neither exhaustive nor distinctive when one tries to use them for Tristram Shandy. Narrative fiction, Rimmon-Kenan states, has three main aspects: story, text and narration:
‘Story’ designates the narrated events, abstracted from their disposition in the text and reconstructed in their chronological order, together with the participants in these events. Whereas ‘story’ is a succession of events, ‘text’ is a spoken or written discourse which undertakes their telling. ... Time is essential for all of these three aspects, as will become clear in my discussion. Time in itself, following Rimmon-Kenan, can be viewed in three respects: order, duration, and frequency (p. 46). I will focus on the first two aspects since they are more essential to the novel than frequency.4 Finally, I will discuss whether, after my discussion of Tristram Shandy’s time structure, one can conclude that the novel is a metafiction according to Waugh’s definition of the term.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- Order of Events
- Duration
- Fusion of time schemes
- Conclusion
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This essay aims to demonstrate how Tristram Shandy undermines traditional fictional illusion by focusing on the representation of time. The essay applies narratological terms to the novel, highlighting their limitations in fully capturing its unique temporal structure.
- The relationship between story time and text time in Tristram Shandy
- The manipulation of chronology and the disruption of linear narrative
- The use of digressions and ellipses to alter the pace of the narrative
- The self-reflexive nature of the narration and its impact on the reader's experience
- The paradoxical nature of narrative time and its implications for understanding Tristram Shandy
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: Introduces the concept of metafiction and how Tristram Shandy undermines traditional narrative conventions, particularly those related to time.
- Order of Events: Examines the chronology of events in Tristram Shandy, demonstrating how Sterne disrupts linear time by presenting events out of chronological order. The essay analyzes how the text itself provides clues to a potential chronological order, despite the non-linear presentation.
- Duration: Explores the unconventional use of duration in Tristram Shandy, focusing on the varying pace of the narrative. The chapter examines how digressions, ellipses, and the narrator's own commentary on the time it takes the reader to read the text contribute to the unique temporal structure of the novel.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
Key terms and concepts explored in this essay include: metafiction, narrative time, chronology, duration, pace, digression, ellipsis, self-reflexivity, Tristram Shandy, Sterne.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Tristram Shandy represent time differently from traditional novels?
Unlike traditional realism, Tristram Shandy disrupts linear chronology through constant digressions, interruptions, and reflections on the time it takes to tell the story versus the time the events actually took.
What is the difference between 'story time' and 'text time'?
'Story time' refers to the chronological order of events as they supposedly happened, while 'text time' refers to the order and duration in which they are presented in the written discourse.
Why is Tristram Shandy considered a work of metafiction?
What role do digressions play in the novel's temporal structure?
Digressions expand the 'duration' of the text, often slowing down the narrative pace so much that hours of reading may cover only minutes of story time, creating a temporal paradox.
Who are the key theorists mentioned regarding narrative time?
The essay draws on Patricia Waugh's definition of metafiction and Rimmon-Kenan's categories of narrative aspects: story, text, and narration.
- Citation du texte
- Mag. Markus Widmer (Auteur), 1998, Time in "Tristram Shandy", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/14785
