Navigating the Fourth Dimension: Nonlinear Narratives in Film, Literature, and Television

Author(s)

Jason R. Boulanger, University of Rhode IslandFollow

Major

English

Advisor

Yates, Andrea, L.

Advisor Department

English

Date

5-2011

Keywords

English; Novels; Nonlinear; Film; Television; Modernism

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Abstract

Time is often considered the fourth dimension due to the fact that nothing can exist outside the confines of time. Since time is so intrinsic to the very nature of being in the world, creators of film, literature, and television, which are reflective of life, must at least implicitly confront concepts of time and temporality within their work. The intangibility of time presents many difficulties but also a great number of opportunities in accurately portraying its true function within the world.

Many literary works, films, and television programs directly confront concepts of time. Each medium with its own benefits and detriments must approach time and its true representation differently. Although authors and directors all must work within the same confines of their respective media, the approaches taken by different authors and directors are varied and widespread. These diverse approaches vary in their level of success and by which elements regarding the complexity of time they elucidate.

It is this introspection into the complexity of time through literature, film, and television, which is the topic of my honors project. By reading novels and viewing films and television programs, which utilize nonlinear story telling techniques and analyzing these works, it is my hope to garner a greater understanding of how the complex nature and experience of time can be approached and re-presented through different media.