Thomas Hardy, time and narrative : a narratological approach to his novels

Description

"Thomas Hardy, Time and Narrative is the first book-length study of all Hardy's fourteen novels from narratological perspectives. It examines how his development of thematics and characters over a quarter of a century is matched by a corresponding development of narrative devices and techniques, and his handling of time. As a transitional writer between the fragmenting Victorian and advancing Modernist periods, Hardy's key role is here reinforced in technical as well as in thematic terms, and exposure of the internal workings of his novels helps towards a fuller appreciation of their achievement. Featuring constant change, Hardy's novels question convention, stress discontinuity and multiplicity of focus and genre, while inconsistent narrators force the reader into a pivotal position, and devices of simultaneity and epiphany, chronotope and coincidence project an intense awareness of time. Overall, this study aims to underline the need for a healthy balance between the rival claims of content and expression. "-- Read more... Abstract: How is Hardy's development of thematics and characters matched by that of narrative techniques and his handling of time? This book uses narratological methods to stress the interdependence of content and expression in a key transitional writer between the Victorian and Modernist eras. Read more...