Studia Filologiczne UJK

Summary

This article is an attempt to address the issue of autotelic narration. This aspect will be discussed on the basis of two novels: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentelman (1759) by Laurence Sterne and A Maggot (1985) by John Fowles. Experimental Sterne’s novel is an inspiration to many writers and I put forward the claim that Laurence Sterne’s innovations, as introduced in his novel, have their restitution in more current literary efforts. A spectacular demonstration of possibly one of the most representative illustrations of the restitution of Sterne an innovation emerged in the modern and postmodern period in the form of Fowles’s novel.
The most important feature of autotelic narration is the specific way of communication between the narrator and the reader. Both examples show that narrator is a part of the text but also he or she might be a creator of the text.