Narration

Abstract

This chapter reappraises the connections between narration and argumentation. It contests the claim that narrative is merely a fictional layer superimposed on the nonfictional content (and, by extension, the true essence) of the essay film. The work examined in this chapter explores some of the ways in which narration can give expression to argumentation. The essay form is inherently fragile, with a particular potential for disassemblage. The chapter focuses on epistolarity as a disjunctive narrative form marked by distance and by absence and on the counternarrative aspects of lyricism, based on its tendency to fragmentation, allusiveness, metaphoricity, formalism, and affectivity. Two long-standing traditions are addressed, the epistolary essay via an engagement with Lettres de Panduranga (Letters from Panduranga, 2015) by Nguyễn Trinh Thi and the lyric essay via a study of The Idea of North (1995) by Rebecca Baron.