Narratives and Nested-Time

Abstract

Narratives are often created within a linear time, which allows them to be organized into a simple and discrete series of events. However, narratives can be created outside of linear time, thereby changing the organization of the narrative. To think about this further, we draw from Henri Bergson’s concept of duration and Gilles Deleuze’s ontology of difference to reconsider time in narratives and question the simple temporal organization of events. In doing so we develop the concept of nested-time as a way of playing with time and narrative and encourage narrative researchers to experiment with time and narrative as well.