Narrative Exchanges (Routledge Revivals)

"Narrative Exchanges makes some challenging and refreshing new moves in narrative theory. Skilfully argued and critically acute, it is that rare thing, a work of critical theory that is both stimulating and a pleasure to read." – Ross Chambers, publisher’s reader (quoted on dustjacket)."witty and challenging…an excellent introduction to this complex and contentious field…Reid opens up a fascinating political arena." – Anne Cranny-Francis, Australian Campus Review."…reads texts clearly and intelligently, without distorting them to fit his thesis…Narrative Exchanges is a solid though modest addition to the theory of fiction, which students of narratology will find helpful." – M.J. Hoffman, Modern Fiction Studies."Reid’s is an attractively dynamic model of what happens in the act of reading… I am not sure that a radical advance beyond Reid’s kind of thinking is immediately possible." – Andrew Gibson, Towards a Postmodern Theory of Narrative."Reid is trying…to take narrative theory to a new stage. Put simply, this book examines the way in which exchanges occur in narrative texts, and the way in which they are framed, which has implications for what texts can be made to mean….Any concern about the general effectiveness of [this] model … is dispelled by the range of coverage in Narrative Exchanges… Reid’s book should be seen in the tradition of the dynamicists, but should be recognised as the most powerful work in this tradition to date." – David Matthews, Southern Review.

• Preface; Introduction; 1. Beyond Narratology? 2. Framing the Text 3. Cutting a Long Story Short 4. Voice, Sequence and Control 5. Fictions of Challenge and Riposte 6. ‘Always a Sacrifice’: Executing Unities 7. The Characters of Danger and Desire 8. Waiting to be Told 9. ‘Down a Strange Street’: Emergent Exchanges; Appendix A: Extract from Edda; Appendix B: Extract from The Prelude; Appendix C: ‘The Hind of the Further’; Notes; References; Index