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Literature vocabulary · Narration and Point of View

Retrospective narration

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, retrospective narration means: Storytelling from a later point in time, looking back on earlier events.

In Turkish: geriye dönük anlatım

How it is used

Use to compare the narrator's later understanding with what the character knew during the events.

Example sentences

  1. Retrospective narration lets the older sailor question his youthful hunger for adventure.

    The time gap allows the storyteller to revise an earlier attitude.

  2. The child's diary lacks the reflective distance we found in the memoir's retrospective narration.

    The comparison separates immediate recording from later reflection.

Common collocations

  • use retrospective narration
  • retrospective narration in memoir
  • simultaneous narrationA narrative method that tells events as if they are happening at the same moment, with little or no time gap between action and telling.
  • memoirA nonfiction book in which the author writes about personal memories of a particular period, experience or theme in his or her life.

More terms: Narration and Point of View

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