Plato's Proto-Narratology : Metanarrative Reflections and Narrative Paradigms / Vasileios Liotsakis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Liotsakis, Vasileios, author.

Series:

Trends in classics. ; Volume 153.

Trends in Classics - Supplementary Volumes Series ; Volume 153

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plato.

Narration (Rhetoric)--Philosophy.

Narration (Rhetoric).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (266 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Berlin, Germany : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston, [2023]

Summary:

Plato's contribution to narratology has traditionally been traced in his tripartite categorisation of narrative modes we read of in the Republic. Although other aspects of storytelling are also addressed throughout the Platonic oeuvre, such passages are treated as instantaneous flares of metanarrative speculation on Plato's part and do not seem to contribute to the reconstruction of his 'theory of narrative'. Vasileios Liotsakis challenges this view and argues that the Statesman, the Timaeus/Critias and the Laws reveal that Plato had consolidated in his mind and compositionally put into effect one systematic mode in which to express his thoughts on narratives. In these dialogues Liotsakis recognizes the birth of a proto-narratology which differs in many respects from what we today expect from a narratological handbook, but still demonstrates two key-features of narratology: (a) a conscious focus on certain aspects of narrativity which are vastly discussed by narratologists and pertain to the structuring and reception of narratives; and (b) a schematised mode of interaction between metanarrative reflections and textual bodies which serve as the paradigms through which to explore the interpretive potential of these reflections.

Contents:

Intro

Foreword

Contents

Introduction

1 The Statesman: A Formalist Approach to Narrative

2 Timaeus and Critias: Plato's 'Proto-Theory' of Fictional Worlds

3 The Laws: Formalism and Reception Theory Intermingled

4 General Conclusions

Bibliography

Index Nominum et Rerum

Index Locorum.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

3-11-130782-4