Developments in Narrative Structure: Two Volume Set
From the Thirteenth Century to the Rise of the Novel
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 25. November 2025
Book
1020 pages
978-1-032-75868-8 (ISBN)
Description
This two-volume study traces developments in English narrative structure from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period, building on the theses set out in Monika Fludernik's award-winning Towards a 'Natural' Narratology (1996).
Developments in Narrative Structure analyzes the medieval verse and prose romance, verse and prose hagiography, the fabliau, historical writing, letters, the early modern romance and low-style prose as well as the epic. Deploying linguistic and narratological methodology, the study provides a wide-ranging survey of how narrative develops and diversifies during these five centuries. It discusses continuities and discontinuities, as well as functional repurposing of familiar strategies, and traces the complex and often contradictory changes in form and function. The analyses moreover allow for a comparison between developments in verse and prose texts from a chronological as well as intergeneric perspective.
This authoritative work is an invaluable resource for literary scholars, linguists, and especially to narratologists and scholars of historical pragmatics. Among literature specialists, it will be of interest to literary historians, medievalists, early modern scholars, and for those interested in the rise of the novel and its antecedents.
Developments in Narrative Structure analyzes the medieval verse and prose romance, verse and prose hagiography, the fabliau, historical writing, letters, the early modern romance and low-style prose as well as the epic. Deploying linguistic and narratological methodology, the study provides a wide-ranging survey of how narrative develops and diversifies during these five centuries. It discusses continuities and discontinuities, as well as functional repurposing of familiar strategies, and traces the complex and often contradictory changes in form and function. The analyses moreover allow for a comparison between developments in verse and prose texts from a chronological as well as intergeneric perspective.
This authoritative work is an invaluable resource for literary scholars, linguists, and especially to narratologists and scholars of historical pragmatics. Among literature specialists, it will be of interest to literary historians, medievalists, early modern scholars, and for those interested in the rise of the novel and its antecedents.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Academic and Postgraduate
Illustrations
5 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 6 s/w Zeichnungen, 171 s/w Tabellen, 11 s/w Abbildungen
171 Tables, black and white; 6 Line drawings, black and white; 5 Halftones, black and white; 11 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
2050 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-75868-8 (9781032758688)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Monika Fludernik
Developments in Narrative Structure: Two Volume Set
From the Thirteenth Century to the Rise of the Novel
E-Book
03/2026
Taylor & Francis
€158.99
Available for download
Monika Fludernik
Developments in Narrative Structure: Two Volume Set
From the Thirteenth Century to the Rise of the Novel
E-Book
03/2026
Taylor & Francis
€158.99
Available for download
Person
Monika Fludernik is Professor Emerita at the University of Freiburg, Germany, where she taught from 1994 to 2025. Her research interests include narratology, literary linguistics, postcolonial studies, law and literature and eighteenth-century aesthetics.
Content
Volume I
Preface; PART I: Introductory and Theoretical; 1. Introduction - Monika Fludernik ; 2. Diachrony Reconsidered - Monika Fludernik; PART II: THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD; 3. Narrative Verse I: The Romance - Anne Herlyn; 4. Narrative Verse II: The Saint's Legend - Monika Fludernik; 5. Narrative Verse III: The Fabliau and Short Comic Narrative - Theresa Hamilton and Monika Fludernik; 6. Narrative Prose I: The Late Medieval Prose Romances - Sonia Garcia de Alba Lobeira
Volume II
PART III: FROM MIDDLE ENGLISH TO EARLY NEW ENGLISH; 7. Historical Narrative, 1066-1700 - Anne Herlyn; 8. Narrative Prose II: Prose Hagiography - Thomas Lederer; 9. Letters, 1400-1650 - Monika Fludernik; PART IV: THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD; 10. Epic Verse: Spenser, Milton and Dryden - Roman Barton; 11. Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Romances - Sebastian Strassburg; 12. Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Prose in the Low Style - Tanja Haferkorn and Monika Fludernik; PART V: Summary and Conclusions; 13. Summary of Results and Discussion - Monika Fludernik; 14. Final Considerations - Monika Fludernik; Author Index; Subject Index
Preface; PART I: Introductory and Theoretical; 1. Introduction - Monika Fludernik ; 2. Diachrony Reconsidered - Monika Fludernik; PART II: THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD; 3. Narrative Verse I: The Romance - Anne Herlyn; 4. Narrative Verse II: The Saint's Legend - Monika Fludernik; 5. Narrative Verse III: The Fabliau and Short Comic Narrative - Theresa Hamilton and Monika Fludernik; 6. Narrative Prose I: The Late Medieval Prose Romances - Sonia Garcia de Alba Lobeira
Volume II
PART III: FROM MIDDLE ENGLISH TO EARLY NEW ENGLISH; 7. Historical Narrative, 1066-1700 - Anne Herlyn; 8. Narrative Prose II: Prose Hagiography - Thomas Lederer; 9. Letters, 1400-1650 - Monika Fludernik; PART IV: THE EARLY MODERN PERIOD; 10. Epic Verse: Spenser, Milton and Dryden - Roman Barton; 11. Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Romances - Sebastian Strassburg; 12. Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Prose in the Low Style - Tanja Haferkorn and Monika Fludernik; PART V: Summary and Conclusions; 13. Summary of Results and Discussion - Monika Fludernik; 14. Final Considerations - Monika Fludernik; Author Index; Subject Index