Concept in Definition ABC

When telling a story the chronological sequence of the narration he plays a relevant role. In literary creation and in movie theater sometimes the events described are interrupted to tell something of the past and when this happens we speak of analepsis.

Modalities and examples

In analepsis there is always a reference to the past. This setback has two versions or modalities: the flashback and the racconto.

The flashback consists of an abrupt interruption of the plot in which a memory of the past appears momentarily and then continuation the story continues in the present (the term flash means appearance and disappearance and back means towards behind). Therefore, it is a return to the past with character momentary.

In the world of cinema there are some classic examples: Alfred Hitchcok's film "Marnie the Thief", "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino or "How beautiful it is to live!" by Frank Capra.

In the racconto there is also a return to the past, but it is a more prolonged retrospection in time. Thus, first the action of the present stops, then something that has already happened is told in detail and finally the story that is told returns to the instant of the initial interruption.

The novel "El camino" by Miguel Delibes or the television series "Those wonderful years" are two examples of the technique narrative of the racconto.

With these resources narratives the creator can look for several effects: that the story has a greater coherence, that readers or viewers have relevant information to understand the course of the events, that the past of a character is known or that the interest of the plot.

The opposite effect to analepsis is prolepsis, but it is better known with the English term flashforward

With this narrative device the present moment is interrupted to announce a event that hasn't happened yet. After the future-oriented interruption the narrative returns to the present moment.

An illustrative example is the novel "The tunnel" by Ernesto Sábato, since in the story the reader knows from the beginning that the protagonist will commit a murder.

Both the analepsis and its opposite effect are anachronies, that is, temporary jumps in which the narrator stops the development of the story to tell previous or later events.

Both forms of temporary alteration allow a story to have greater dynamism and thus capture the interest of the reader or viewer.

Fotolia photos: surasaki / nito