What is the Antimimesis of Narrative? An Exploration of Brian Richardson's Unnatural Narratology

Shang Biwu

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2018, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (6) : 89-97.

PDF(1866 KB)
Welcome to Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, Jul. 28, 2025
PDF(1866 KB)
Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2018, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (6) : 89-97.
Western Literary Theory and Criticism

What is the Antimimesis of Narrative? An Exploration of Brian Richardson's Unnatural Narratology

  • Shang Biwu
Author information +
History +

Abstract

As a founder and major proponent of unnatural narratology, Brian Richardson is one of the most prominent narratologists in contemporary Western academia. Defining unnatural narrative as "one that contains significant antimimetic events, characters, settings, or frames", Richardson analyzes its unnaturalness from such aspects as story, discourse and narrative representation apart from revealing its ideological function. The controversies of unnatural narratology, to a large extent, center on the concept of the unnatural, and methodology and applicability of the theory. To fully develop "a poetics of unnatural narrative," unnatural narratologists, Richardson in particular, need to further clarify the concepts of unnatural narratology at a micro-level on the one hand, and to develop an interpretive model which will be fruitfully improved and revised through practice at a macro-level on the other.

Key words

Brian Richardson / unnatural narratology / anti-mimesis

Cite this article

Download Citations
Shang Biwu. What is the Antimimesis of Narrative? An Exploration of Brian Richardson's Unnatural Narratology[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2018, 38(6): 89-97

Funding

the Major Projeet of National Social Sciences Foundation (17ZDA28)
PDF(1866 KB)

1609

Accesses

0

Citation

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/