Epic and Other Higher Narratives: Essays in Intercultural Studies

Narrative theory in the West has been novel-centred—it has often been assumed to be the norm of narrative practice, in the modern European novel of the late-eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. However, a novel-centred theory cannot account for the peculiar power of those higher narratives that were dominant in earlier periods in the West, such as the ancient Greek and Roman epic poems, the Old English Beowulf, the Middle High German Niebelungenlied, or Milton’s Paradise Lost. Nor is a European, novel-centred narrative theory an appropriate lens through which we might view narrative from a global perspective such as the Japanese The Tale of Genji and the great Indian epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Epic and Other Higher Narratives: Essays in Intercultural Studies, consisting of twelve essays, includes a discussion on the theoretical foundations of narrative and moves on to the nature of narrative in relation to higher narratives. Through analyses, the essays attempt to define a form of narrative that is distinguished by elevation, dignity and grandeur, engaging in a truly cross-cultural phenomenon. This volume will be of great value to students of international studies and world literature.