Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative, or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique where events are portrayed, for example, out of chronological order or in other ways where the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern of the events featured, such as parallel distinctive plot lines, dream immersions or narrating another story inside the main plot-line. The technique is common in electronic literature, and particularly in hypertext fiction,[1] and is also well-established in print and other sequential media.
Beginning a non-linear narrative in medias res (Latin: "into the middle of things") began in ancient times and was used as a convention of epic poetry, including Homer's Iliad in the 8th century BC. The technique of narrating most of the story in flashback is also seen in epic poetry, like the Indian epic the Mahabharata. Several medieval Arabian Nights tales such as "The City of Brass" and "The Three Apples" also had nonlinear narratives employing the in medias res and flashback techniques.[2] The medieval English poem Beowulf also utilizes a non-linear structure, focusing on events throughout the life of the titular character rather than describing them in a linear narrative.[3]
Several of Michael Moorcock's novels, particularly those in the Jerry Cornelius series, in particular The English Assassin: A Romance of Entropy (1972) and The Condition of Muzak (1977) are notable for extending the nonlinear narrative form in order to explore the complex nature of identity within a multiversal universe.
Scott McCloud argues in Understanding Comics that the narration of comics is nonlinear because it relies on the reader's choices and interactions.
Defining nonlinear structure in film is, at times, difficult. Films may use extensive flashbacks or flashforwards within a linear storyline, while nonlinear films often contain linear sequences.[6]Orson Welles'Citizen Kane (1941)—influenced structurally by The Power and the Glory (1933)—and Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950) use a non-chronological flashback narrative that is often labeled nonlinear.
Silent and early era
Experimentation with nonlinear structure in film dates back to the silent film era, including D. W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916) and Abel Gance's Napoléon (1927).[7] Nonlinear film emerged from the French avant-garde[5] in 1924 with René Clair’s Entr'acte, Dadaïst film and then in 1929 with Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's Un Chien Andalou (English: An Andalusian Dog). The surrealist film jumps into fantasy and juxtaposes images, granting the filmmakers an ability to create statements about the Church, art, and society that are left open to interpretation.[8] Buñuel and Dalí's L'Âge d'Or (1930) (English: The Golden Age) also uses nonlinear concepts. The revolutionary Russian filmmakers Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin, and Alexander Dovzhenko also experimented with the possibilities of nonlinearity. Eisenstein's Strike (1925) and Dovzhenko's Earth (1930) hint at a nonlinear experience.[9] English director Humphrey Jennings used a nonlinear approach in his World War II documentary Listen to Britain (1942).[9]
Some television series use nonlinear narrative in certain episodes to fully explore an important part of the main characters' past. An example is Showtime's horrordramaPenny Dreadful, which features one episode per season that is entirely devoted to exploring key moments in Vanessa Ives' (Eva Green) past. Another example is HBO's drama The Leftovers, whose ninth episode is set in the past and explores the lives of the main characters before the critical event that drives the story took place. Fox's sci-fi series Fringe, the Amazon original comedy dramaTransparent and the Netflix originalcomedyGrace and Frankie use this technique only in certain episodes too.
The future or past throughout the series
There are certain television series that use nonlinear narrative to explore the past - or future - of one or various characters throughout its whole run. The ABC television series Lost made extensive use of nonlinear story telling, with each episode typically featuring a primary storyline on the island as well as a secondary storyline from another point in a character's life, either past or future. So does The CW's series Arrow which, in every episode, features a storyline following the life of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) stranded in an island and a main storyline five years later in which he goes back home and decides to become a vigilante. Using a similar storytelling technique, Netflix's original seriesOrange Is the New Black explores the lives of the main characters in prison and also some important part of their past before they became inmates. Another example is FX's horror-drama series The Strain.
As a narrative hook
Some television series use nonlinear narrative in the beginning of a season as a narrative hook, showing an intense or shocking event, and then extensively explore the past and the reasons that lead that event to happen. A notable example is the AMCdrama series Breaking Bad, which in the beginning of its final season showed a neglected and lonesome Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and then explored what had happened to him. This technique was also used in Breaking Bad's Pilot and in its second season. Using the same formula, FX's Emmy Award winning legal drama Damages starring Glenn Close, begins each season with an intensely melodramatic event taking place and then traveling back six months earlier. Throughout the season, each episode shows events both in the past, present, and future that lead up to and follow said event. Netflix's original seriesBloodline and ABC's crime dramaHow to Get Away with Murder use a similar storytelling technique.
To mimic human memory
Another reason why a television series uses nonlinear narrative is to better portray the way human memory recalls events. In its first season, the HBOanthology series True Detective used nonlinear narrative depicting the events that the main characters described and in the way they remembered them. Showtime's Golden Globe winning dramaThe Affair uses this narrative technique in the same way. However, by using unreliable narrators, this show emphasizes how differently two people recall the same events.
Even though it is not common, some comedy also shows use nonlinear narrative. An example is the sitcomArrested Development which, in its fourth season, made heavy use of nonlinear narrative, devoting each episode to explore the story of each of its characters separately.
Some video games mimic film non-linearity by presenting a single plot in a chronologically distorted way instead of letting the player determine the story flow themselves. The first-person shooterTribes: Vengeance is an example of this; another is Sega's Sonic Adventure.
A nonlinear plot structure may or may not be combined with branching:
All of Quantum Games were developed nonlinear structures into the style of hyperlink cinema.
Some games tell their nonlinear story without the player being able to change any (or very little) of the plot structure. For example, Uncharted 2 begins in medias res, with the lead character in the aftermath of an accident that the player only reaches several hours of gameplay later.
Indie game Fragments of Him also begins in medias res but, in addition to the nonlinear beginning, it later jumps between characters to build the story and character relationships in a nonlinear fashion, and a subtle branch means that players may see the stories in a different order if they walk into a different room at the beginning.
Indie developers Dennaton Games use non-linear passages of time in their game Hotline Miami 2 in the same way Pulp Fiction is written. For example, some segments of the game take place before the events of the Prequel. It is used for dramatic effect in most cases, some characters have already had onscreen deaths but the player will not realise it until a later chapter of the character walking blindly to their already shown death.
Often game developers use the idea of character amnesia in games. It helps give the game a beginning because the audience only has the understanding that there is a history before the events of the game take place. Furthermore, by creating a nonlinear storyline the complexity of game play is greatly expanded. Nonlinear game play allows for greater replay value, allowing the player to put together different pieces of a potentially puzzling storyline. A fitting example of character amnesia is the 2005 video game Façade. In Façade the player is put into a situation that lasts approximately 10 to 15 minutes in real time, yet the events recalled seem to have a basis in years of dramatic history.[16]
HTML narratives
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In contemporary society webpages or to be more correct, hypertext, have become affluent forms of narratives.[citation needed] Hypertexts have great potential to create non-linear forms of narratives. They allow for individuals to navigate within the story through links, images, audio and video, consisting of multiple subtopics that do not force the audience to make their next selection based on what their previous experiences are.[citation needed]
^Pressman, Jessica (2014). Digital modernism: making it new in new media. Modernist literature & culture. New York: Oxford university press. ISBN978-0-19-993710-3.