Belonging and Narrative: A Theory of the American Novel (Lettre)

Why did the novel become so popular in the past three centuries, and how did the American novel contribute to this trend? As a key provider of the narrative frames and formulas needed by modern individuals to give meaning and mooring to their lives. Drawing on phenomenological hermeneutics, human geography and social psychology, Laura Bieger contends that belonging is not a given; it is continuously produced by narrative. Against the current emphasis on metaphors of movement and destabilization, she explores the salience and significance of home. Challenging views of narrative as a mechanism of ideology, she approaches narrative as a practical component of dwelling in the world - and the novel a primary place-making agent. Why did the novel become so popular in the past three centuries, and how did the American novel contribute to this trend? As a key provider of the narrative frames and formulas needed by modern individuals to give meaning and mooring to their lives. Drawing on phenomenological hermeneutics, human geography and social psychology, Laura Bieger contends that belonging is not a given; it is continuously produced by narrative. Against the current emphasis on metaphors of movement and destabilization, she explores the salience and significance of home. Challenging views of narrative as a mechanism of ideology, she approaches narrative as a practical component of dwelling in the world - and the novel a primary place-making agent. Cover 1 Contents 6 Preface 8 1. Belonging, Narrative, and the Art of the Novel 14 2. Poisoned Letters from a Gothic Frontier 42 3. The Art of Attachment 74 4. Dwelling in What is Found 106 5. Of Cranes and Brains 136 Works Cited 164 Narrative,Theory;,American,Novel;,Space,and,Place;,Literature;,America;,American,Studies;,Cultural,History;,Cultural,Studies;,Literary,Studies Narrative Theory,American Novel,Space and Place,Literature,America,American Studies,Cultural History,Cultural Studies,Literary Studies O-Ton: »US elections: is US media more polarized than the people?« - Laura Bieger in The Northern Times on 02.12.2020.Besprochen in:IDA-NRW, 4 (2018)