About Time: Narrative, Fiction and the Philosophy of Time

by Mark Currie

About Time brings together ideas about time from narrative theory and philosophy. It argues that literary criticism and narratology have approached narrative primarily as a form of retrospect, and demonstrates through a series of arguments and readings that anticipation and other forms of projection into the future offer new analytical perspectives to narrative criticism and theory. The book offers an account of ‘prolepsis’ or ‘flashforward’ in the contemporary novel which retrieves it from the realm of experimentation and places it at the heart of a contemporary mode of being, both personal and collective, which experiences the present as the object of a future memory. With reference to some of the most important recent developments in the philosophy of time, it aims to define a set of questions about tense and temporal reference in narrative which make it possible to reconsider the function of stories in contemporary culture. It also reopens traditional questions about the difference between literature and philosophy in relation to knowledge of time. In the context of these questions, the book offers analyses of a range of contemporary fiction by writers such as Ali Smith, Ian McEwan, Martin Amis and Graham Swift.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, 21st Century, Theory, British Literature, Criticism, Research

176 pages, Hardcover

First published October 20, 2006

Reviews

[Gustaf]

I realized early on that I wasn't going to be able to fully understand this, since I'm not well versed in "Continental" philosophy, so I opted instead for just reading it all the way through and try to gain a --- as Nietzsche would say --- firm grasp of the over-all picture instead.

My main takeaway was that the temporal structure of a novel is compatible with a simultaneous tensed and untensed account of time, which helps explain a number of concepts. Concepts like prolepsis, which is the incorporation of the future from which this will be viewed into the present of the narrative. This was the most fascinating part of the discussion for me, since it applies to life outside of narrative as well. Say for example that we go on a trip: then our present, for most of us anyways, will be both past, present and future at the same time. Because, as he writes, "... they are recorded in the present as if recounted in the past. Another interesting concept that this tensed/untensed view helps explain is how time is both an experience and the way through which we experience it, i.e. the difference between phenomological time and objective time.

All in all it was a fascinating read, if albeit frustrating at times. Will probably return to it once I get a better grasp on the surrounding philosophy.

[Zekiye Antakyalıoğlu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

[mv · Rating 4 out of 5]

took me 10293094 years, but the parts I understood I really liked! akskdlf

[Caitlin Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve decided I’m done thinking about this now

[Marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

me ha gustado mucho, lenguaje claro para lidiar con ideas complejas, lo cual valoro, y hace una geneologia de la filosofia del tiempo y lo combina con un analisis literario, feten!