Analysis Of Flash-Forward Scenes By Gversing Genette

Gérard Genette is a French literary theorist who developed the theory of narrative, which is the telling of a set of events or a story. The most basic terms from narratology are as follows; order, duration, frequency, voice and mood. The narrative of a story is traditionally told in chronological order, as this is a way for the story to be easily understood by its readers. However, by changing the time-frame of the story, the author is also changing their readers ways of reading and understanding the literary texts. Flash-forward scenes are one such example. Many modern literary texts grapple with the idea of offering tidbits of information at the beginning and not fully explaining this information until the very end. It can create mystery …show more content…
It delivers a powerful emotional impact as the events are more clearly revealed. The importance of showing rather than telling should never be underestimated! Flash-forward scenes occupy the role of taking readers to the future to expose the events that are expected, imagined or events that actually do take place. They usually occur in an unclear, vague yet riveting fashion so as to engage with the reader and force them to continue reading to uncover the truth. The context of the flash-forward scenes are unclear, and key pieces of information are kept hidden. In the end, these scenes are replayed with greater detail and it all makes sense. Some texts use flash-forward scenes to show the characters the potential of what could happen. Armed with this new knowledge of their futures, the characters can alter their present to to thus alter their futures. The most famous example of this is in Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol” in which the main character, Ebenzer Scrooge, flies through to the future to witness his own small, impersonal and emotionless funeral. He then is able to take the necessary steps to prevent his future from becoming a reality. This shows how the relationship between time and narrative (especially order) changes our ways of reading and understanding literary …show more content…
There are five elements of duration; pause, stretch, scene, summary and ecllipsis. Constancy of pace is another such element, albeit not one of the five main elements. The speed at which the literary text takes place in is crucial to the story. A fast-paced drama increases the energy and excitement while a slow-paced romance evokes the breezy nature of the piece. A slow-paced text can also demonstrate the tedious nature of the characters lives and how they suffer through a certain sense of entrapment due to this banality. This shows how the relationship between time and narrative (especially duration) changes our ways of reading and understanding literary