Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun literary theory A narrating
character orstoryteller in aliterary or otherartistic work—such as anovel ,play ,song , orfilm —who providesinaccurate ,misleading ,conflicting , or otherwisequestionable information to the reader or audience.
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Reportedly coined by U.S. literary critic Wayne C. Booth in 1961.
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jennarenn commented on the word unreliable narrator
slumry, could you give a reference? I keep picturing the narrator switching stories mid-movie, whilst the actors keep performing according to the original script.
July 3, 2007
slumry commented on the word unreliable narrator
The Wikipedia description is pretty succinct. I have always understood it to refer to the reader's *job* of judging how trustworthy the narrator is in a piece of fiction.
July 3, 2007
uselessness commented on the word unreliable narrator
Like in those stories where the narrator turns out to be the bad guy in the end, right? That's fun but almost approaches a level of action I'm too lazy to carry when reading a book for fun. Or watching a movie, or whatever.
July 3, 2007
slumry commented on the word unreliable narrator
It is more of a lit-crit thing, isn't it? Still, some of the fun of mystery stories can be in speculating about who is believable. And it seems related to dramatic irony, where the audience knows more than the players do.
July 3, 2007
reesetee commented on the word unreliable narrator
U, I'm with you there. Just this morning, as I was reading a novel, I started wondering whether I had an unreliable narrator on my hands and thought, "Well, I'm just not up for that, so he'd better not be." In movies, somehow I have a higher level of tolerance for such things.
July 3, 2007
slumry commented on the word unreliable narrator
I did not say I *liked* unreliable narrators, only that they exist in literature ;-) Just as in real life. Then again, we often read fiction for a reprieve from real life.
July 3, 2007
reesetee commented on the word unreliable narrator
Oh, I wasn't suggesting that, slumry. Just grousing. :-)
July 3, 2007
slumry commented on the word unreliable narrator
Oh yes, we all have to grouse a bit.
July 4, 2007