Marina Lambrou

Presenting pioneering work at the intersection of stylistics and narrative study, this volume provides a more considered understanding of narratives and the many ways in which they are retold in literary and non-literary texts. Taking an empirical stylistic approach, chapters analyse the process of retelling across a rich variety of genres, mediums and contexts, including literary classics, contemporary horror, personal traumatic experience, news stories and cosmetic advertising. Common types of retelling, such as translation, adaptation and textual interpretation in reading groups, are reconceptualised in the chapters, and fresh insights are offered into experiences retold as autofiction, witness statements and advertorials on social media. From modernising the most cherished novels of Jane Austen to deciphering conflicting testimonials following the Hillsborough disaster, this volume is broad in scope and reveals the complexities involved in all forms of narrative retellings. As such, it makes a valuable contribution to the interdisciplinary study of stylistics and to the understanding of narrative texts.

Stylistic Approaches

Narrative Retellings

Louise Nuttall

Dan McIntyre

"Presenting pioneering work at the intersection of stylistics and narrative study, this volume explores the many ways in which narratives are retold in literary and non-literary texts. Taking an empirical stylistic approach, chapters analyse the process of retelling across a rich variety of genres and contexts, including literary classics, contemporary horror, personal traumatic experience, news stories and cosmetic advertising. The volume reconceptualises common retellings, such as translation, adaptation and modernisation, and offers fresh insights into experiences retold as autofiction, witness statements and advertorials on social media"--

Peter Stockwell

Contemporary Stylistics

In this book Marina Lambrou explores the dimension of narrative storytelling described as ‘the disnarrated’ – events that do not happen but which are referred to – across three genres of texts: personal narratives; news stories; and fiction (literary and film). The book begins by asking why such disnarrated narratives are nevertheless considered tellable. It moves on to examine the pervasiveness of this phenomenon in news reports about “near misses” and the shared personal narratives about dangerous experiences, where “truth” is expected to be central their telling. It further discusses how disnarration is generated in counterfactual “what if?” scenarios in fiction where characters follow alternative, forked paths with fascinating unexpected consequences. This engaging work offers original insights to anyone interested in storytelling and will appeal in particular to scholars of language and literature, stylistics, narratology, media, film and journalism.

Disnarration and the Unmentioned in Fact and Fiction

Narrative Retellings presents pioneering work at the intersection of stylistics and narrative study to provide new insights into the diverse forms of fictional and factual narratives and their retellings. Common types of retelling, such as translation, adaptation, textual intervention and reader responses are reconceptualised in the chapters, and fresh insights are offered into experiences retold as autofiction, witness statements and advertorials on social media. From modernising the most cherished novels of Jane Austen to deciphering conflicting testimonials following the Hillsborough disaster, this volume reveals the complexities involved in all forms of narrative retellings. As such, it makes a valuable contribution to the interdisciplinary study of stylistics and to the understanding of narrative texts.

Marina Lambrou

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