The entanglement: Narrative coincidence in forking-path narratives (from the event in the happenings to the reception event)

Abstract

In this article the author examines narrative coincidence, which can be found in 19th–20th century narratives as well as contemporary ones. Among the variety of contemporary non-linear narrative forms, the forking-path narrative is of special interest, as it encourages the reader to follow not just one life of the protagonist, but several at the same time. The character is unaware about the existence of these other lives, but the reader is aware of them: this difference in knowledge is further emphasized by the fact that in this type of narrative, the events in the happenings do not necessarily coincide with the reception events (in P. Huhn’s terms). The differences in the functioning of the two types of events are also manifested through how coincidence is used in a forking-path narrative: unlike in traditional narratives, coincidences now operate not at the level of the fabula, but at the level of reader perception. From a plot/fabula perspective, the storylines remain autonomous, while from the point of view of the reader’s perception they are connected, intersecting, intertwined. The conflict of the event in the narrated happenings and the reception event is considered on the example of the forking-path novel 4 3 2 1 by P. Auster. In the forking-path narrative coincidences no longer ensure the creation of a clear, coherent, ordered world, but instead create the effect of disorientation, unpredictability and disorder. The primary narrative emotion involved in this type of text therefore becomes “surprise” (whereas the other two, according to M. Sternberg, “suspense” and “curiosity”, turn out to be secondary).