Thomas Hardy, Time and Narrative ― A Narratological Approach to His Novels

Thomas Hardy, Time and Narrative is the first book-length study of all Hardy's fourteen novels from narratological perspectives. It examines how his development of thematics and characters over a quarter of a century is matched by a corresponding development of narrative devices and techniques, and his handling of time. As a transitional writer between the fragmenting Victorian and advancing Modernist periods, Hardy's key role is here reinforced in technical as well as in thematic terms, and exposure of the internal workings of his novels helps towards a fuller appreciation of their achievement. Featuring constant change, Hardy's novels question convention, stress discontinuity and multiplicity of focus and genre, while inconsistent narrators force the reader into a pivotal position, and devices of simultaneity and epiphany, chronotope and coincidence project an intense awareness of time. Overall, this study aims to underline the need for a healthy balance between the rival claims of content and expression.

Ken Ireland has lectured for The Open University, taught numerous courses for the Universities of Cambridge, UEA and London, and published two books, many articles and conference papers.