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Narratology and Classics: A Practical Guide
Narrative is an important element in our daily life and the novel is arguably the most popular genre of our times. The theory of narrative or narratology, which was developed in the 1960s, has helped us towards a better understanding of the how and why of narrative. Narratology and Classics is the first introduction to narratology that deals specifically with classical epic, historiography, biography, the ancient novel, but also the many narratives inserted in drama or lyric.
The first part of the volume sketches the rise of narratology, and defines key narratological terms, illustrated with examples from both modern novels and Greek and Latin texts. Among the topics discussed are the identity of the role of narrator and narratees, tales within tales, metalepsis, temporal devices such as prolepsis and analepsis, retardation and acceleration, repetition and gaps, focalisation, and the thematic, symbolic, or characterising functions of space. The second part of the volume offers three close readings of famous classical texts and shows how the interpretation of these texts can be enriched by the use of narratology.
The aim of this practical guide is to initiate its readers quickly into a literary theory that has established itself as a powerful new instrument in the classicist's toolkit. All concepts are clearly defined and illustrated from Greek and Latin texts, and detailed bibliographies at the end of each chapter point the way to theoretical studies and to further narratological studies of classical texts.
The first part of the volume sketches the rise of narratology, and defines key narratological terms, illustrated with examples from both modern novels and Greek and Latin texts. Among the topics discussed are the identity of the role of narrator and narratees, tales within tales, metalepsis, temporal devices such as prolepsis and analepsis, retardation and acceleration, repetition and gaps, focalisation, and the thematic, symbolic, or characterising functions of space. The second part of the volume offers three close readings of famous classical texts and shows how the interpretation of these texts can be enriched by the use of narratology.
The aim of this practical guide is to initiate its readers quickly into a literary theory that has established itself as a powerful new instrument in the classicist's toolkit. All concepts are clearly defined and illustrated from Greek and Latin texts, and detailed bibliographies at the end of each chapter point the way to theoretical studies and to further narratological studies of classical texts.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2014
89 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 1, 2023
A good introduction to narratology in Classics! The book explains the different concepts and ideas behind narratology in a very clear fashion, with a lot of examples both from ancient literature and more contemporary literature.
At the same time, I was slightly disappointed that the book didn't really seem to go much further than that: it signaled a lot of uses of narratological concepts and interpretative modes, but it failed to follow up on those signals to what that means for a text or an interpretation of the text (for instance, what are the consequences of having certain parts narrated or focalised by certain characters?). The last three chapters were case studies/close readings in which this became a little bit more clear, but for me it seemed that narratology was used to support an already existing interpretation instead of basing the interpretation on the narratological aspects.
Anyway, definitely an interesting and good introduction into narratology, but I wished it had gone further than just signaling the important narratological aspects of the text (or, as it's called in stylistics, the interpretative leap was slightly missing for me).
Happy reading!
At the same time, I was slightly disappointed that the book didn't really seem to go much further than that: it signaled a lot of uses of narratological concepts and interpretative modes, but it failed to follow up on those signals to what that means for a text or an interpretation of the text (for instance, what are the consequences of having certain parts narrated or focalised by certain characters?). The last three chapters were case studies/close readings in which this became a little bit more clear, but for me it seemed that narratology was used to support an already existing interpretation instead of basing the interpretation on the narratological aspects.
Anyway, definitely an interesting and good introduction into narratology, but I wished it had gone further than just signaling the important narratological aspects of the text (or, as it's called in stylistics, the interpretative leap was slightly missing for me).
Happy reading!
September 30, 2020
A very practical guide indeed.
January 29, 2018
Informative and illuminating primer on the historical, intellectual and scholarly background of the study of narrative i.e. narratology.
Jong's introduction to the field is swift and assured as she seeks to encapsulate, with useful textual examples and commentary, the burgeoning field of narratology: right from its inception in the minds of Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, to the contributions of semioticians and literary theorists as varied as Mikhail Bakhtin and Gerard Genette.
The second half of the book is dedicated to a more sustained application of narratological techniques to Greek epics and classics, whereas the first half offers helpful insights into texts as rich and diverse as David Copperfield to Sabbatical and to One thousand and One nights.
Recommended for both the die-hard academic and the layman reader.
Jong's introduction to the field is swift and assured as she seeks to encapsulate, with useful textual examples and commentary, the burgeoning field of narratology: right from its inception in the minds of Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, to the contributions of semioticians and literary theorists as varied as Mikhail Bakhtin and Gerard Genette.
The second half of the book is dedicated to a more sustained application of narratological techniques to Greek epics and classics, whereas the first half offers helpful insights into texts as rich and diverse as David Copperfield to Sabbatical and to One thousand and One nights.
Recommended for both the die-hard academic and the layman reader.
October 30, 2022
On the whole, a waste of time
December 29, 2025
gelezen voor studie
February 14, 2017
This is pretty much a must-read for every classicist. On the other hand De Jong offers a great, concise primer on narratology for anyone interested in stories. Read this and never use the word "perspective" when you actually mean "focalization".
De Jong gives a quick and clear explanation, illustrated with examples from both ancient and modern literature, of such narratological terms as narrator and narratee, time and space, fabula - story - text and many others. These are explained in a practical way, mostly avoiding the narratological discussion surrounding each of them, never claiming to be a universal literary theory. Instead it serves as a practical guide to using narratological concepts in discussing the huge, but by its very nature limited corpus of ancient texts.
The second part of the book is devoted to an extensive narratological discussion of three classical texts from distinct genres: epic, historiography and tragedy. Unfortunately these discussions mostly take the form of a fairly standard commentary, explaining the text and looking for inter- and intratextual references. The main narratological subject discussed in this part of the book is focalization. Hardly any of the other terms from the first part of the book shows up.
Apart from that problem, which makes the final seventy pages less useful than they could have been, this was a very interesting take on both classical literature and narratology.
De Jong gives a quick and clear explanation, illustrated with examples from both ancient and modern literature, of such narratological terms as narrator and narratee, time and space, fabula - story - text and many others. These are explained in a practical way, mostly avoiding the narratological discussion surrounding each of them, never claiming to be a universal literary theory. Instead it serves as a practical guide to using narratological concepts in discussing the huge, but by its very nature limited corpus of ancient texts.
The second part of the book is devoted to an extensive narratological discussion of three classical texts from distinct genres: epic, historiography and tragedy. Unfortunately these discussions mostly take the form of a fairly standard commentary, explaining the text and looking for inter- and intratextual references. The main narratological subject discussed in this part of the book is focalization. Hardly any of the other terms from the first part of the book shows up.
Apart from that problem, which makes the final seventy pages less useful than they could have been, this was a very interesting take on both classical literature and narratology.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews