Narrative Retellings: Stylistic Approaches

Description

Presenting pioneering work at the intersection of stylistics and narrative study, this volume provides a more considered understanding of narratives and the many ways in which they are retold in literary and non-literary texts. Taking an empirical stylistic approach, chapters analyse the process of retelling across a rich variety of genres, mediums and contexts, including literary classics, contemporary horror, personal traumatic experience, news stories and cosmetic advertising. Common types of retelling, such as translation, adaptation and textual interpretation in reading groups, are reconceptualised in the chapters, and fresh insights are offered into experiences retold as autofiction, witness statements and advertorials on social media. From modernising the most cherished novels of Jane Austen to deciphering conflicting testimonials following the Hillsborough disaster, this volume is broad in scope and reveals the complexities involved in all forms of narrative retellings. As such, it makes a valuable contribution to the interdisciplinary study of stylistics and to the understanding of narrative texts. Contents List of figures List of tables Notes on contributors Acknowledgements 1 Introduction to narrative retellings: Stylistic approaches • Marina Lambrou Part I: Fictional retellings 2 Restorying: The creative act of retelling • Jeremy Scott 3 Adapting Pride and Prejudice: Stylistic choices as communicative acts • Anne Furlong 4 Narrative retelling in McGahern’s ‘Swallows’: The intensifying power of repetition and return • Michael Toolan 5 Modern retellings of Jane Austen • Joe Bray 6 Rewriting misdirection: A stylistic approach to crime fiction writing • Christiana Gregoriou Part II: Factual retellings 7 Siegfried Sassoon, autofiction and style: Retelling the experience of war • Marcello Giovanelli 8 Retelling catastrophe through translation • Jean Boase-Beier 9 Retelling Hillsborough: A critical stylistic analysis of witness statements • Patricia Canning 10 ‘This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are my own’: Advertising (re)tellings on social media • Helen Ringrow Part III: Pedagogical applications of retellings 11 Intervening in text-worlds: Retelling, Text World Theory and pedagogy • Ian Cushing 12 Retelling stories across languages and cultures: Literary imagination and symbolic competence • Chantelle Warner 13 Rereading as retelling: Re-evaluations of perspective in narrative fiction • Chloe Harrison and Louise Nuttall Index