Does Non-Linear Narrative Sacrifice Good Storytelling in Favor of Form?

Does Non-Linear Narrative Sacrifice Good Storytelling in Favor of Form?

Does non-linear narrative sacrifice good storytelling in favor of form? Answer with close reference to at least two narratives from any medium.

Traditional narrative has been a part of human culture since the dawn of time. People are storytelling machines, constantly surrounding themselves with structures and patterns, desperately trying to make sense of the world, to justify their own existence. The most basic of human needs is to construct a meaningful and satisfactory narrative of life, shaping and validating humanity’s purpose and right to be. People tell stories for a number of different reasons, whether it is to simply communicate, to inform, to entertain, to morally instruct, to learn, to gossip, to keep historical accounts of certain events or to seek attention, narrative is and always will be an essential part of one’s everyday life since the moment he or she uttered their first word. Given that a story is always an act of communication between the teller and his audience, narratives always consist of certain ambiguities, which form a sort of creative space and leave room for dialogue. It is in this space where the actual interaction between the storyteller and his audience occurs (McLeod 1997). Non-linear narratives however, have an entirely different approach to telling stories, one that is without a doubt a thrill to experience, but also one that begs the question whether authors using it aren’t in fact putting style before substance, effectively sacrificing good storytelling in favor of form. Order and magnitude are essential principles in traditional narrative theory (Aristotle 1951), but whether tampering with them should be considered bad practice is up for debate.

Non-linearity saw its birth with the emergence of post-modernism in the late twentieth century, a time period overshadowed by its predecessor and a movement forced to adapt and seek out new methods of expression. Ironically however, instead of trying to find its own niche,...

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