Kertomus, aika ja ihminen

Paul Ricoeurin Temps et récit ja jälkiklassinen narratologia

• Mika Hallila Joensuun yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74738

Abstract

Narrative, Time, and Man. Paul Ricoeur’s Time and Narrative and Postclassical Narratology

Paul Ricoeur’s Time and Narrative (Temps et récit, 1983–1987) has had a major influence on present narrative theory. Postclassical narratology, in particular, is devoted to applying Ricoeur’s study on narrative. The article examines how Ricoeur’s path-breaking work both participates in the debates of postclassical narratology and creates a rapprochement between the heterogeneous trends of the field of research.

The examination begins by considering Ricoeur’s method ofextending the meanings of the narratological concepts such as ”time”, ”narrative”, ”plot”, and ”mimesis” via his association with phenomenology and hermeneutics. Thus, Ricoeur’s narratological thought is introduced from the viewpoint of its philosophical background. According to the main argument of the article, this aspect is often out of sight in the applications of Ricoeur’s narrative theory within postclassical narratology that takes in primarily its innovations in poetics.

The subsequent parts of the article discuss Time and Narrative’s position in postclassical narratology. Ricoeur’s narrative theory is perceived as an important reference point on one hand, and as an influential comprehensive philosophical system on the other. The analysis reveals that Time and Narrative, as it focuses on both the structure of narrative and temporal experience of time in human life, could be considered as providing philosophical grounds for the change of emphasis in narratology towards culture, sociology, ethics, and the emotive and cognitive skills of man.