Narrative and Becoming - Paperback

by Ridvan Askin (Author)

What is narrative? Ridvan Askin brings together aesthetics, contemporary North American fiction, Gilles Deleuze, narrative theory and the recent speculative turn to answer this question. Through this process, he develops a transcendental empiricist concept of narrative. Askin argues against the established consensus of narrative theory for an understanding of narrative as fundamentally nonhuman, unconscious and expressive.
Close readings include: Ana Castillo, The Mixquiahuala Letters (1986); Michael Ondaatje, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (1970); Colson Whitehead, The Intuitionist (1999); Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves (2000).

Back Jacket

Proposes a new model for understanding narrative, grounded in the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze What is narrative? Ridvan Askin answers this question by bringing together aesthetics, contemporary North-American fiction, Gilles Deleuze, narrative theory and the recent speculative turn. Through this process he develops a transcendental empiricist concept of narrative. Against the established consensus of narrative theory he argues for an understanding of narrative as fundamentally nonhuman, unconscious, and expressive. Narrative and Becoming provides close readings of a number of contemporary North-American fictions, most prominently Ana Castillo's The Mixquiahuala Letters (1986), Michael Ondaatje's The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (1970), Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist (1999) and Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves (2000), showcasing their genuine metaphysical quality. Ridvan Askin is Postdoctoral Teaching and Research Fellow in American and General Literatures at the University of Basel.

Author Biography

Ridvan Askin is Postdoctoral Teaching and Research Fellow in American and General Literatures at the University of Basel. His recent publications include two co-edited volumes, Aesthetics in the 21st Century, a special issue of Speculations (2014), and Literature, Ethics, Morality: American Studies Perspectives (Narr, 2015).