Plotlessness
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| + | "''[[À rebours]]'' can scarcely be called a novel, and [[Huysmans]], in fact, does not call it so. It does not reveal a history, it has [[plotlessness|no action]], but presents itself as a sort of portrayal or biography of a man whose habits, sympathies and antipathies, and ideas on all possible subjects, specially on [[the arts|art and literature]], are related to us in great detail. This man is called [[Des Esseintes]], and is the last [[scion]] of an ancient French ducal title."--''[[Degeneration (Nordau)|Degeneration]]'' (1892) by Max Nordau | ||
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| - | In [[modernist literature]], [[plot]] is secondary to philosophical [[introspection]], and the prose can be winding and hard to follow. Taking this to the [[extreme]], we come to the [[anti-novel]] of the mid twentieth century. | + | '''Plotlessness''' refers to fiction lacking [[plot]]s. Plotlessness was uncommon before the 20th century, but in [[modernist literature]], [[plot]] was secondary to philosophical [[introspection]]. Taking this to the extreme, the [[anti-novel]] was an evolution of the mid twentieth century. |
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| - | == Related == | + | |
| - | [[boredom]] - [[digression]] - [[fiction]] - [[narratology]] - [[abstraction]] - [[kitchen sink [[plot]] - drama]] - [[psychological novel]] - [[realism]] - [[slice of life story]] - [[stream of consciousness]] | + | |
| == Plotless literature == | == Plotless literature == | ||
| - | [[Nicholson Baker]]'s novels - ''[[Tristram Shandy]]'' - [[In Search of Lost Time]] | + | ===18th century=== |
| + | *''[[Tristram Shandy]]'' (1759), Laurence Sterne | ||
| + | *''[[A Journey Around My Room]]'' (1794) by Xavier de Maistre | ||
| - | == Plot-driven literature == | + | ===19th century=== |
| - | [[thriller]] | + | *''[[Notes from the Underground]]'' (1864) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
| + | *''[[Bouvard et Pécuchet ]]'' (1881) by Flaubert | ||
| + | *''[[À rebours ]]'' (1884) by Huysmans | ||
| + | *''[[Elbow-Room; A Novel Without a Plot]]'' (1876) is a novel by [[Charles Heber Clark]] | ||
| - | == Slice of life story == | + | ===20th century=== |
| + | In [[modernist literature]], [[plot]] is secondary to philosophical [[introspection]], and the prose can be winding and hard to follow. Taking this to the [[extreme]], we come to the [[anti-novel]] of the mid twentieth century. | ||
| + | ====Examples==== | ||
| + | *''[[Naked Lunch]]'' by William Burroughs | ||
| + | *''[[In Search of Lost Time]]'' (1913 - 1927 ) by Proust | ||
| + | *[[Raymond Carver]]’s short stories | ||
| + | *[[Nicholson Baker]]'s novels | ||
| + | == Plot-driven literature == | ||
| + | *[[Thriller (genre) |thriller]] | ||
| - | A slice of life story is a story which has no real plot. Often it has no exposition, no action, no conflict, and no denouement, but an open ending. It usually tries to depict the every-day life of ordinary people. The term slice of life is actually a (more or less) dead metaphor: it often seems as if the author had taken a knife and cut out a slice of the lives of some characters, apparently not bothering at all where the cuts were made. | + | == See also == |
| - | + | *[[Boredom]] | |
| - | It has also been defined as an “episode of actual experience represented realistically and with little alteration in a dramatic, fictional, or journalistic work.”. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slice_of_Life_Story [Oct 2006] | + | *[[Digression]] |
| - | + | *[[Narratology]] | |
| - | == Raymond Carver’s short stories == | + | *[[Psychological novel]] |
| - | :"I love Raymond Carver’s short stories because they’re complete and perfect without much happening in them, in terms of action and plot development. What I’d like to find is some novels that are similarly “plotless”? Do they exist? | + | *[[Stream of consciousness]] |
| - | + | *[[Sketch story]] | |
| - | :There are Carver stories which are so good you HAVE to finish them, even though all that happens is someone goes to bingo, sees someone else there, goes home, feels sad and goes to bed. I’m looking for novels where the prime reason you keep on reading isn’t to see “what happens” but because you want to spend more time with the characters or the writing itself; ideally books where very little “happens” at all…" --metafilter, March 8, 2005 | + | *[[Non-narrative film]] |
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"À rebours can scarcely be called a novel, and Huysmans, in fact, does not call it so. It does not reveal a history, it has no action, but presents itself as a sort of portrayal or biography of a man whose habits, sympathies and antipathies, and ideas on all possible subjects, specially on art and literature, are related to us in great detail. This man is called Des Esseintes, and is the last scion of an ancient French ducal title."--Degeneration (1892) by Max Nordau |
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Plotlessness refers to fiction lacking plots. Plotlessness was uncommon before the 20th century, but in modernist literature, plot was secondary to philosophical introspection. Taking this to the extreme, the anti-novel was an evolution of the mid twentieth century.
Contents |
[edit]
Plotless literature
[edit]
18th century
- Tristram Shandy (1759), Laurence Sterne
- A Journey Around My Room (1794) by Xavier de Maistre
[edit]
19th century
- Notes from the Underground (1864) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Bouvard et Pécuchet (1881) by Flaubert
- À rebours (1884) by Huysmans
- Elbow-Room; A Novel Without a Plot (1876) is a novel by Charles Heber Clark
[edit]
20th century
In modernist literature, plot is secondary to philosophical introspection, and the prose can be winding and hard to follow. Taking this to the extreme, we come to the anti-novel of the mid twentieth century.
[edit]
Examples
- Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
- In Search of Lost Time (1913 - 1927 ) by Proust
- Raymond Carver’s short stories
- Nicholson Baker's novels
[edit]
Plot-driven literature
[edit]
See also
- Boredom
- Digression
- Narratology
- Psychological novel
- Stream of consciousness
- Sketch story
- Non-narrative film
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Plotlessness" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
