Manchester University Press
1 The terms of narrative
Abstract
Chapter 1 lays the theoretical and terminological groundwork for the book. Narrative theorists mainly agree that a narrative consists of a succession of events that unfold in time, are linked by causal connections, and are experienced and acted out by characters. This basic template was developed for literary storytelling. However, the text-based model presents some challenges when transferred to static images. Nineteenth-century paintings addressed these challenges in ingenious ways and, indeed, turned the putative limitations of pictorial narrative into strengths. The paintings mapped temporal cause-and-effect logic was mapped onto space and activated the viewers' imagination via one fruitful moment. Chapter 1 draws literary narratology (Aristotle, Gérard Genette, Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Mieke Bal) and on theories of visual narration (Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Franz Wickhoff, Max Imdahl). Case studies include: Jean-Léon Gérôme's Christian Martyrs' Last Prayers (1863-83), Camillo Miola's Death of Virginia (1882) and Franz von Defregger's Weekend Tyrolean (1882).
Abstract
Chapter 1 lays the theoretical and terminological groundwork for the book. Narrative theorists mainly agree that a narrative consists of a succession of events that unfold in time, are linked by causal connections, and are experienced and acted out by characters. This basic template was developed for literary storytelling. However, the text-based model presents some challenges when transferred to static images. Nineteenth-century paintings addressed these challenges in ingenious ways and, indeed, turned the putative limitations of pictorial narrative into strengths. The paintings mapped temporal cause-and-effect logic was mapped onto space and activated the viewers' imagination via one fruitful moment. Chapter 1 draws literary narratology (Aristotle, Gérard Genette, Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan, Mieke Bal) and on theories of visual narration (Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Franz Wickhoff, Max Imdahl). Case studies include: Jean-Léon Gérôme's Christian Martyrs' Last Prayers (1863-83), Camillo Miola's Death of Virginia (1882) and Franz von Defregger's Weekend Tyrolean (1882).
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of plates vi
- List of figures vii
- Preface xiii
- Acknowledgements xiv
- 1 The terms of narrative 1
- 2 Eloquent objects 37
- 3 Patterns of reception 95
- 4 Stories in paint 155
- 5 Epilogue 186
- Select bibliography 195
- Index 217
- Plates 225
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- List of plates vi
- List of figures vii
- Preface xiii
- Acknowledgements xiv
- 1 The terms of narrative 1
- 2 Eloquent objects 37
- 3 Patterns of reception 95
- 4 Stories in paint 155
- 5 Epilogue 186
- Select bibliography 195
- Index 217
- Plates 225
