narrabas

Narrabas is a term used in contemporary narrative theory and speculative fiction to describe a family of narrative structures characterized by nested frames, multiple narrators, and self-reflexive commentary. In narrabas, stories unfold within stories, with the inner narration often mirroring, contesting, or reframing the outer narration. The technique foregrounds questions of memory, reliability, and authorship, and frequently blurs the boundary between storyteller and protagonist.

Origins and usage: The term appears in online discussions about metafiction and complex storytelling and is not part of a formal scholarly taxonomy. It has no single founder, and definitions vary. It is commonly invoked to analyze works that present layered or palimpsest-like narrations, where readers must track shifts in voice, time, and perspective.

Characteristics: The hallmark is a layered or recursive narration. A primary narrator relates events while introducing secondary narrators who recount other events, sometimes interrupting to comment on the act of narration. Temporal fluidity, palimpsest-like memory, and deliberate ambiguity about what is true or final are typical features. The method can be used to explore themes of truth, fictionality, and the politics of storytelling.

Reception and examples: Critics view narrabas as a flexible device for examining how stories are constructed and received. Some argue that the complexity can impede readability; others see it as a powerful tool for engagement and critique of narration itself. The concept has appeared in discussions of contemporary novels, graphic novels, and interactive media, where multiple voices or levels of narration are employed.

See also: metafiction, frame narrative, nested storytelling, unreliable narrator.