Beyond archetypes: Advancing the knowledge of narrative fiction in future scenarios

Abstract

This article argues that examples of literary fiction and research from literary theory can complement futuring research that makes use of narrative archetypes. Specifically, such examples can offer distinctive insight into the longer timescale, multi-layered complexities and ambiguity that characterises socio-technological change. This article briefly outlines the limitations of futuring research that derives narrative archetypes from science fiction and of archetypes more generally as units of narrative meaning. It then closely analyses Alan Hollinghurst’s novel The Stranger’s Child (2011) and draws on research from literary theory to highlight the subtleties of construction evident in this work that go beyond narrative structures based on archetypes and offer a number of complicating perspectives on socio-technological change. Hollinghurst’s narrative is then used to inform a series of impressionistic scenarios involving smart home technology in order to indicate more specifically how a deeper understanding of literary craft might aid in envisioning alterative futures. To conclude, the article suggests finding the right balance between schematization, on the one hand, and accounting for complexity and ambiguity, on the other hand, is a key challenge when developing resources from literary narratives.