The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative

Preface; 1. Narrative and life: The universality of narrative; Narrative and time; Narrative perception; 2. Defining narrative: The bare minimum; Story and narrative discourse; The mediation (construction) of story; Constituent and supplementary events; Narrativity; 3. The borders of narrative: Framing narratives; Paratexts; The outer limits of narrative; Is it narrative or is it life itself?; 4. The rhetoric of narrative: Causation; Normalization; Masterplots; Narrative rhetoric at work; 5. Closure: Conflict: the agon; Closure and endings; Closure, suspense, and surprise; Closure at the level of expectations; Closure at the level of questions; Absence of closure; 6. Narration: a few words on interpretation: The narrator; Voice; Focalization; Distance; Reliability; Free indirect style; Narration on stage and screen; 7. Interpretation: The implied author; Underreading; Overreading; Gaps; Cruxes; Repetition: themes and motifs; 8. Three ways to interpret narrative: The question of wholeness in narrative; Intentional readings; Symptomatic readings; Adaptive readings; 9. Adaptation across media: Adaptation as creative destruction; Duration and pace; Character; Figurative language; Gaps; Focalization; Constraints of the marketplace; 10. Character and self in narrative: Character vs. action; Flat and round characters; Can characters be real?; Types; Autobiography; Life writing as performative; 11. Narrative contestation: A contest of narratives; A narrative lattice-work; Shadow stories; Motivation and personality; Masterplots and types; Revising cultural masterplots; Battling narratives are everywhere; 12. Narrative negotiation; Critical reading as narrative negotiation; Closure one more time; The end of closure?; Glossary; Index.