Nonlinear narrative,disjointed narrative, ordisrupted narrative is anarrative technique where events are portrayed, for example, out ofchronological 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 inelectronic literature, and particularly inhypertext fiction,[1] and is also well-established in print and other sequential media.
Beginning a non-linear narrativein medias res (Latin: "into the middle of things") began in ancient times and was used as a convention ofepic poetry, includingHomer'sIliad in the 8th century BC. The technique of narrating most of the story inflashback is also seen in epic poetry, like theIndian epic theMahabharata. Several medievalArabian Nights tales such as "The City of Brass" and "The Three Apples" also had nonlinear narratives employing thein medias res and flashback techniques.[2] The medieval English poemBeowulf 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]
From the late 19th century and early 20th century,modernist novelistsJoseph Conrad,Virginia Woolf,Ford Madox Ford,Marcel Proust, andWilliam Faulkner experimented with narrative chronology and abandoning linear order.[4]
Examples of nonlinear novels are:
Several of Michael Moorcock's novels, particularly those in the Jerry Cornelius series, in particularThe English Assassin: A Romance of Entropy (1972) andThe 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 inUnderstanding 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 extensiveflashbacks orflashforwards within a linear storyline, while nonlinear films often contain linear sequences.[6]Orson Welles'Citizen Kane (1941)—influenced structurally byThe Power and the Glory (1933)—andAkira Kurosawa'sRashomon (1950) use a non-chronological flashback narrative that is often labeled nonlinear.
Experimentation with nonlinear structure in film dates back to thesilent film era, includingD. W. Griffith'sIntolerance (1916) andAbel Gance'sNapoléon (1927).[7] Nonlinear film emerged from the Frenchavant-garde[5] in 1924 withRené Clair’sEntr'acte, Dadaïst film and then in 1929 withLuis Buñuel andSalvador Dalí'sUn Chien Andalou (English:An Andalusian Dog). Thesurrealist 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'sL'Âge d'Or (1930) (English:The Golden Age) also uses nonlinear concepts. The revolutionary Russian filmmakersSergei Eisenstein,Vsevolod Pudovkin, andAlexander Dovzhenko also experimented with the possibilities of nonlinearity. Eisenstein'sStrike (1925) and Dovzhenko'sEarth (1930) hint at a nonlinear experience.[9] English directorHumphrey Jennings used a nonlinear approach in his World War II documentaryListen to Britain (1942).[9]
Jean-Luc Godard's works since 1959 were also important in the evolution of nonlinear film. Godard famously stated, "I agree that a film should have a beginning, a middle and an end but not necessarily in that order".[10] Godard'sWeek End (French:Le weekend) (1968), as well asAndy Warhol'sChelsea Girls (1966), defy linear structure in exchange for a chronology of events that is seemingly random.[11]Alain Resnais experimented with narrative and time in his filmsHiroshima mon amour (1959),L'Année dernière à Marienbad (1961), andMuriel (1963).Federico Fellini defined his own nonlinear cinema with the filmsLa Strada (1954),La Dolce Vita (1960),8½ (1963),Fellini Satyricon (1969), andRoma (1972), as didSoviet filmmakerAndrei Tarkovsky with hismodernist filmsSolaris (1972),The Mirror (1975) andNostalghia (1983).Nicolas Roeg's films, includingPerformance (1970),Walkabout (1971),Don't Look Now (1973),The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), andBad Timing (1980) are characterized by a nonlinear approach.[12] Other mainstream nonlinear filmmakers includeMichelangelo Antonioni,Peter Greenaway,Chris Marker,Theo Angelopoulos,Agnès Varda,Raúl Ruiz,Carlos Saura,Alain Robbe-Grillet.[13]
In the United States,Robert Altman carried the nonlinear motif in his films, includingMcCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971),Nashville (1975),The Player (1992),Short Cuts (1993), andGosford Park (2001).[14]Woody Allen embraced the experimental nature of nonlinear narrative inAnnie Hall (1977),Interiors (1978), andStardust Memories (1980).
In the 1990s,Quentin Tarantino influenced a tremendous increase in the popularity of nonlinear films, most notablyPulp Fiction (1994). He also used nonlinear narrative inReservoir Dogs (1992),Kill Bill (2003 and2004) andThe Hateful Eight (2015). Critics have referred shifting of timeline as Tarantino effect.[8] Other important nonlinear films includeAtom Egoyan'sExotica (1994),Terrence Malick'sThe Thin Red Line (1998), and Karen andJill Sprecher'sThirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001).[8]David Lynch experimented with nonlinear narrative andsurrealism inLost Highway (1997),Mulholland Drive (2001), andInland Empire (2006).
In the years leading into and the beginning of the 21st century, some filmmakers have returned to the use of nonlinear narrative repeatedly, includingSteven Soderbergh inSchizopolis (1996),Out of Sight (1998),The Limey (1999),Full Frontal (2002),Solaris (2002), andChe (2008); andChristopher Nolan inFollowing (1998),Memento (2000),Batman Begins (2005),The Prestige (2006),Inception (2010),The Dark Knight Rises (2012) andDunkirk (2017).Memento, with its fragmentation andreverse chronology, has been described as characteristic of moving towardspostmodernism in contemporary cinema. Another example would beTerrence Malick's acclaimedThe Tree of Life (2011). The element of reverse chronology was explored further inGaspar Noé's 2002 filmIrréversible. Noé's 2009 filmEnter the Void also used an uncommon narrative structure as a man recalls his life through flashbacks at the time of his death, induced by the use ofpsychedelic drugs.[15]Richard Linklater used nonlinear narrative inWaking Life (2001),A Scanner Darkly (2006);Gus Van Sant inElephant (2003),Last Days (2005), andParanoid Park (2007).Alejandro González Iñárritu's filmBabel is an example of fragmented narrative structure. Hong Kong auteurWong Kar-wai explored nonlinear storylines in the filmsDays of Being Wild (1991),Ashes of Time (1994),Chungking Express (1994),In the Mood for Love (2000), and2046 (2004).Fernando Meirelles inCity of God andThe Constant Gardener. Some ofAlejandro González Iñárritu's films feature nonlinear narratives, including the ones written by Guillermo Arriaga who also uses nonlinear narratives in his other screenplays.Charlie Kaufman is also known for his fondness of nonlinear storytelling as applied inAdaptation andEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.Takashi Shimizu's Japanese horror series,Ju-on, brought to America asThe Grudge, is also nonlinear in its storytelling (the only exception beingThe Grudge 3). DirectorMartin Koolhoven has made more movies with a nonlinear narrative, but the most notorious one is probably his controversial westernBrimstone, which premiered in the 2016Venice Film Festival. DirectorVetrimaaran made the Tamil-language thriller filmVada Chennai (2018) which has a nonlinear narrative structure. Another Tamil-language film,Iravin Nizhal (2022), has a single-shot non-linear structure.Friend of the World (2020) is broken up into chapters, which has a nonlinear plot.
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InAmerican television, there are several examples of series that make use of nonlinear narrative in different forms and for different purposes. Some notable examples areLost,Undone,Breaking Bad,The Walking Dead,Once Upon a Time,The Witcher,Arrow,Orange Is the New Black, andTrue Detective. Even though it is often found indrama, somecomedy shows use nonlinear narrative too, such asArrested Development andHow I Met Your Mother. This kind of narrative is used in several ways. Some series only have certain nonlinear episodes, such asPenny Dreadful andThe Leftovers. Others use nonlinear storylines throughout the whole series, such asLost andArrow. Other series use nonlinear narrative in the beginning of a season and then explore the past until they meet, such asDamages andBloodline.
Some television series use nonlinear narrative in certain episodes to fully explore an important part of the main characters' past. An example isShowtime'shorrordramaPenny Dreadful, which features one episode per season that is entirely devoted to exploring key moments in Vanessa Ives' (Eva Green) past. Another example isHBO's dramaThe 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'ssci-fi seriesFringe, theAmazon originalcomedy dramaTransparent and theNetflix originalcomedyGrace and Frankie use this technique only in certain episodes too.
There are certain television series that use nonlinear narrative to explore the past - or future - of one or various characters throughout its whole run. TheABC television seriesLost 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 doesThe CW's seriesArrow which, in every episode, features a storyline following the life ofOliver Queen (Stephen Amell) stranded in an island and a main storyline five years later in which he goes back home and decides to become avigilante. Using a similar storytelling technique,Netflix'soriginal seriesOrange Is the New Black explores the lives of the main characters in prison and also some important part of their past before they becameinmates. Another example isFX'shorror-drama seriesThe Strain.
Some television series use nonlinear narrative in the beginning of a season as anarrative 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 theAMCdrama seriesBreaking Bad, which in the beginning of itsfinal season showed a neglected and lonesomeWalter White (Bryan Cranston) and then explored what had happened to him. This technique was also used inBreaking Bad'sPilot and in itssecond season. Using the same formula,FX'sEmmy Award winning legal dramaDamages starringGlenn 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'soriginal seriesBloodline andABC'scrime dramaHow to Get Away with Murder use a similar storytelling technique.
Another reason why a television series uses nonlinear narrative is to better portray the way human memory recalls events. In itsfirst season, theHBOanthology seriesTrue Detective used nonlinear narrative depicting the events that the main characters described and in the way they remembered them.Showtime'sGolden Globe winningdramaThe Affair uses this narrative technique in the same way. However, by usingunreliable narrators, this show emphasizes how differently two people recall the same events.
In itsfourth andfifth season,AMC's post-apocalypticdramaThe Walking Dead used nonlinear narrative extensively.
Even though it is not common, some comedy also shows use nonlinear narrative. An example is thesitcomArrested Development which, in itsfourth season, made heavy use of nonlinear narrative, devoting each episode to explore the story of each of its characters separately.
Other examples of nonlinear narrative in American television are:12 Monkeys,A to Z,Alcatraz,American Horror Story,Better Call Saul,BoJack Horseman,Daredevil,Dopesick,Fargo,The Flash,FlashForward,Forever,Gotham,Grounded for Life,Hannibal,Heroes,House of Cards,Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,Person of Interest,Pretty Little Liars,The Returned,Revolution,Sense8,Undone,The Vampire Diaries,Wayward Pines andThe Witcher.
Japaneseanime series sometimes present their plot in nonlinear order. InThe Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, for example, the episodes were deliberately aired in non-chronological order. A more nonlinear example isBaccano!, where every scene is displayed in non-chronological order, with most scenes taking place at various times during the early 1930s and some scenes taking place before (extending back to the 18th century) and after (extending forward to the 21st century). Other examples includeDurarara!!,Monogatari Series,Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito,Touka Gettan,Rental Magica,Ergo Proxy,Fullmetal Alchemist,Axis Powers Hetalia,Hidamari Sketch,Mekakucity Actors,Princess Principal,The Garden of Sinners and (partly)Boogiepop Phantom.
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. Thefirst-person shooterTribes: Vengeance is an example of this; another is Sega'sSonic Adventure.
A nonlinear plot structure may or may not be combined with branching:
All of Quantum Games were developed nonlinear structures into the style ofhyperlink 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: Among Thieves beginsin medias res, with the lead character in the aftermath of an accident that the player only reaches several hours of gameplay later.
Indie gameFragments of Him also beginsin 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 developersDennaton Games use non-linear passages of time in their gameHotline Miami 2 in the same wayPulp 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 ofcharacter 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 gameFaçade. InFaçade 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]
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In contemporary society webpages or to be more correct, hypertext, have become affluent forms of narratives.[17] 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.[18] The first-person narrativeSix Sex Scenes is an example of this; another example isPatchwork Girl.