Harari’s graphic novel Sapiens as an “unnatural” narrative
The narrative structure of a “graphic history”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33566/asc.6649Keywords:
Yuval Noah Harari, graphic novel, narratology, unnatural narratives, narrative metalepsisAbstract
The study seeks an answer to the question of what issues the comic adaptation of Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, summarizing the history of humanity, was forced to face due to the media change. In order to answer this question, the essay first interprets the narrative structure of the first Sapiens graphic novel (The Birth of Mankind), establishing that the narrative metalepses confusingly interplay the narrative levels of the narrators and the narrated characters. Next, the study explores the issue of the inserts of different genres difficult to place in the narrative structure, which can also unsettle the reader expecting authentic storytelling („graphic history”). As an explanation for the procedures used, the study uses the approach of a recently emerging trend of narratology examining „unnatural” narratives, with the addition that interpretation strategies based on textual literature are forced to face the different status of „unnaturalness” in the case of comic book narratives.
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