Slow narrative and nonhuman materialities / Marco Caracciolo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Caracciolo, Marco, author.

Series:

Frontiers of narrative.

Frontiers of narrative

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pacing (Narration).

Human ecology in literature.

Climatic changes in literature.

Genre:

Literary criticism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 242 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2022]

Summary:

"Slow Narrative and Nonhuman Materialities investigates how the experience of slowness in contemporary narrative practices can create a vision of interconnectedness between human communities and the nonhuman world. Here, slowness is not a matter of measurable time but a transformative experience for audiences of contemporary narratives engaging with the ecological crisis. While climate change is a scientific abstraction, the imagination of slowness turns it into a deeply embodied and affective experience. Marco Caracciolo explores the value of slowness in dialogue with a wide range of narratives in various media, from prose fiction to comic books to video games. He argues that we need patience and an eye for complex patterns in order to recognize the multiple threads that link human communities and the slow-moving processes of climate and geological history. Decelerating attention offers important insight into human societies’ relations with the nonhuman materialities of Earth’s physical landscapes, ecosystems, and atmosphere.Caracciolo centers the experiential effects of narrative and offers a range of theoretically grounded readings that complement the formal language of narrative theory. These close readings demonstrate that slowness is not a matter of measurable time but a “thickening” of attention that reveals the deeply multithreaded nature of reality. The importance of this realization cannot be overstated: through an investment in the here and now of experience, slow narrative can help us manage the uncertainty of living in an era marked by dramatically shifting climate patterns."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction : Decelerating story

1 Immersion for slow audiences

2 The pace and place of qualia

3 Ontocatalogs and nonhuman materiality

4 Narrative, philosophy, and essayistic attractions

5 Textural patterns in multimodal narrative

6 Visual narrative and the narramorphism of matter

7 Radical environmental storytelling in video games

Coda: Slow retreat

Notes

References

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-227) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Slow narrative and nonhuman materialities.

ISBN:

1-4962-3088-4

9781496230881 (electronic book)

OCLC:

1289370308