Product Description

Must-have guides designed to introduce students and teachers to key topics and authors. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative is designed to help readers understand what narrative is, how it is constructed, how it acts upon us, how we act upon it, how it is transmitted, and how it changes when the medium or the cultural context change. Porter Abbott emphasises that narrative is found not just in the arts but everywhere in the ordinary course of people’s lives. Abbott grounds his treatment of narrative by introducing it as a human phenomenon that is not restricted to literature, film, and theatre, but is found in all activities involving the representation of events in time. At the same time, he honours the fact that out of this common capability have come rich and meaningful narratives that we come back to and reflect on repeatedly in our lives. An indispensable tool for students and teachers alike, this book will guide readers through the fundamental aspects of narrative.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1442789 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 218 pages

Review
‘Abbott brilliantly zeroes in on the architecture of narrative with an exactness and bent for orderly exposition that utterly redeems his subject. The result is a superb taxonomy of what narrative means today.’ Chronicle of Higher Education

‘Directness, accessibility, and coherence distinguish this brief but comprehensive study of narrative. It is very much the ‘introduction’ its title asserts because Abbott is consistent in his efforts to identify, explain and define. His approach is down-to-earth, even conversational, and yet he integrates terms or references intrinsic to the study of narrative. The plethora of examples and illustrations - both ‘classic’ and contemporary, drawn from critical and theoretical texts, novels, short stories … films and television - is a major strength making narrative concepts clear … Most highly recommended.’ Choice

Customer Reviews

Inviting and Highly Readable
H. Porter Abbott has given us a seriously impressive guide in 'The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative'. It is a clearly and passionately written elucidation of the breadth of narrative in the world and of its many interesting aspects that can be subjected to analysis. Moreover, the survey involves a wide range of relevant intellectual contributions that have been made from brilliant scholars, critics and philosophers, and it also includes many allusions to primary sources. The book left me with a refreshing appreciation of the arts, and of the full meaning of narrative in life. Consisting of just over 200 pages, it is short enough to be named an introduction, yet remains an important mine of much helpful information, accessible to both the student and the general reader. Warmly recommended.