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Dickens's a Tale of Two Cities: Narrative Drift and Serial Temporality and Retrospective Authority

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This paper argues that publication format severely alters narratorial authority by examining how the narrative voice in A Tale of Two Cities changes between its serialized and volume versions. Narratorial drift is a slow but cumulative shift in the narrator’s epistemic position due to reading contexts and small textual changes, beyond the basic importance of suspense and plot. The serial version also takes place in a temporality of interruption, anticipation, and reader reorientation that is characterized by incursions, modal uncertainty, and dialogic address, based on narratological frameworks that Gérard Genette and Mieke Bal developed. The volume edition, on the other hand, suppresses these characteristics in favor of a retrospective, authoritative narrative voice that is distinguished by structural coherence, declarative certainty, and continuity. By paying particular attention to segmentation, duration, focalization, and microlevel stylistic modifications, the article demonstrates that reader temporality and the material constraints of publication co-produce narratorial identity, which is not fixed. The codex form resurrects this voice as one of coherence and omniscient, but serialization also implies a contingent and processual narrator who can be delayed and disrupted. This study reframes narrative voice as a dynamic feature and a feature of the text, which makes the connection between textual form and reading habit key. Finally, it argues for a more comprehensive narratological approach that incorporates media in the analysis of narrative discourse. Keywords: Serialization; Narratorial drift; Narrative voice; Temporality; Dickens; Narratology
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20954461
Institution: University of Pecs
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7166359817
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