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Miguel de Cervantes
(1547-1616)
Spanish novelist
 2 other titles

Laurence Sterne
(1713-69)
English novelist
 3 other titles

Legenda: Oxford, 2011
£45.00 ($89.50 US)  Hardback  142pp
ISBN: 978-1-907747-90-8

Digression is a crucial motif in literary narratives. It features as a key characteristic of fictional works from Cervantes and Sterne, to Proust, Joyce and Calvino. Moving away from a linear narrative and following a path of associations reflects how we think and speak. Yet an author’s inability to stick to the point has often been seen to detract from a work of literature, somehow weakening it. This wide-ranging and timely volume seeks to celebrate narrative digressions and move towards a theoretical framework for studying the meanderings of literary texts as a useful and valuable aspect of literature. Essays discussing some of the possibilities for approaching narrative digression from a theoretical perspective are complemented with focused studies of European and American authors. As a whole, the book offers a broad and varied view of textual wanderings.

Rhian Atkin teaches Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at the University of Manchester, and is completing a PhD at the University of Leeds.

With the contributions:

J. J. Long — Introduction: ‘Perfume from a dress...’: On Not Getting to the Point
Samuel Frederick — Re-reading Digression: Towards a Theory of Plotless Narrativity
Richard Hibbitt — Reflections on the Fruitful Error
Jena Habegger-Conti — ‘On with the Story!’ John Barth’s Theory of Narrative Digression
Olivia Santovetti — Italian Digressions
Will McMorran — ‘I’ve Started So I’ll — ’: Marivaux’s La Vie de Marianne
Maebh Long — Stepping Away: Radical Digressivity and At Swim-Two-Birds
Rhian Atkin — Tell It Again, José! Some Principles of Digression in Saramago
Christine Angela Knoop — Is Digression a Viable Concept for Literary Studies?