The Unexpected Guest

The Role of the Paradoxical Nature of the Narrative Turn in Critical Value Judgements

Abstract

Can a reversal be something that we do not expect? In other words: can we recognise something as a twist if we have no prior expectations about the course of the plot, the characters, the dynamics of the development and resolution of conflicts? Yet if we do have a prior expectation, how can we even talk about a twist? In this paper, I would like to explore this paradoxical nature of the turn within the narrative plot, and in doing so, I would also like to examine to what extent the existence and designation of the narrative turn may depend on the interpreter’s activity, what its status is in our everyday, practical narratives when we „predict” with the help of our narrative interpretive competence, and to what extent it is a relevant aspect when we talk about fictional narratives.