Narrative Theory/Narrative Fiction

Abstract

How can teachers of creative writing use recent theories of narrativity to teach narrative fiction? This paper argues that the work of undergraduate fiction writers should not isolated from the larger debates about narrative that are being carried out all the time in our culture. The author showcases an advanced undergraduate creative writing curriculum offered at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia, where reading includes Theresa de Lauretis on desire and narrative, Paul Ricouer on time and narrative and Cathy Caruth on trauma and narrative, amongst others. The course aims to give students an understanding of the productive links that can be made between recent narrative theory and the practice of writing narrative fiction. This paper argues for something other than the traditional skills-based approach to teaching narrative fiction and demonstrates innovative student work that stems directly out of exercises focused on key ideas in narratology.