Toward a geographical socionarratology

Abstract

Abstract Narrative space has attracted increasing attention in recent years, yet this attention only sporadically falls on narrative geography. In this article, I consider the possibility of geographical socionarratology and suggest that a geographical approach is able to enrich the perspective of socionarratology. Correspondingly, a social perspective can enhance the interpretative power of geography. Drawing from Jerome Bruner’s (1990, 1991) narrative theory, “canonicity and breach” as well as Reinhart Kosellek’s (2004) theory on the “existential pair” of expectation and experience, I argue that different geographical locations embody different expectations, emotions, and perspectives of action for characters and storytellers. The contradictory play of contested and conflicting expectations is analyzed more closely by reading Ian McEwan’s The Children Act (2014), a novel portraying competing family cultures and ethical principles. By connecting geography to expectations, I argue, the interpretative advantages of geography in narratology increase substantially.