Unreliability in non-fiction: the case of the unreliable addressee

In this article, I aim to explore unreliability in non-fictional narration. Departing from the widespread conviction that unreliable narration is only possible in fiction, I set out to define the contours of rhetorical approaches to narratology that have paved the way for the discussion of unreliability in non-fiction. I then explore unreliability in relation to non-fictional discourse, especially that found in hybrid genres such as literary documentary and docu-fiction. My argument begins by identifying stylistic criteria as a key element in the assessment of degrees of reliability and unreli... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Martens, Gunther
Dokumenttyp: bookChapter
Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
Schlagwörter: Languages and Literatures / mockumentary / documentary literature / Bye bye Belgium / Thomas Glavinic / Laurent Binet / narratology / Jonathan Littel / unreliability
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28945716
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
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Link(s) : https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/4426684

In this article, I aim to explore unreliability in non-fictional narration. Departing from the widespread conviction that unreliable narration is only possible in fiction, I set out to define the contours of rhetorical approaches to narratology that have paved the way for the discussion of unreliability in non-fiction. I then explore unreliability in relation to non-fictional discourse, especially that found in hybrid genres such as literary documentary and docu-fiction. My argument begins by identifying stylistic criteria as a key element in the assessment of degrees of reliability and unreliability. I then engage questions of the cultural and ethical underpinnings of unreliability judgments by dealing with forms of experimental journalism and with Laurent Binet’s documentary novel HHhH, which is discussed as a third-person antithesis to Jonathan Littell’s Les Bienveillantes. I conclude by advocating a more addressee-oriented narratology.