Narrative and time: A phenomenological reconsideration

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Abstract
The prevailing prespeclive on time in narrative has been articulated by structuralist narratologists who, on the basis of an objective model of time, insist that narrative is characterized by a duality of time—a demarcation between the time of the events (story) and the time of the telling (discourse). In recent years phenomenological theorists, whose perspective is more compatible with performance theory and practice, have used an experiential model of time to explore human temporality and its relationship to narrative structure. In Time, Narrative, and History, David Carr argues that human temporal existence is, in essence, narrative existence. Extrapolating from Carr's position, this essay argues that human beings are best understood as slorylivers rather than as storytellers, and explores the implications of a broadened understanding of time and narrative for the study of literary and natural narrative.

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