nonnarrative

Nonnarrative refers to artistic works that do not conform to a conventional narrative structure in which events are linked by a linear plot and guided by a narrator. While the term is most often used in relation to film and poetry, it also applies to other media such as visual art, installations, and certain documentary and experimental texts. Nonnarrative works may present sequences of images, sounds, or scenes that resist a single, linear interpretation, inviting viewers or readers to derive meaning from form, texture, rhythm, or associative linkages.

Key characteristics include the absence of a clearly defined protagonist or goal, minimal or absent exposition, and a causal storyline. Instead, emphasis is placed on mood, image or idea, repetition, montage, and the arrangement of material according to pattern rather than plot. Time and space may be treated nonlinearly, and interpretation is often open-ended. Works may foreground sensory experience, documentary material, or conceptual concerns over character-driven progression.

Historical context situates nonnarrative forms within avant-garde and experimental movements from the early 20th century onward. In cinema, nonnarrative or non-narrative modes appear in works by early pioneers, in the experimental films of later artists, and in contemporary pieces that emphasize image, sound, and structure over traditional storytelling. In literature, nonnarrative strategies appear through fragmentation, collage, procedural writing, or prose that centers on texture and idea rather than plot.

Scholars debate the value and limits of nonnarrative forms, noting that even when overt plots are absent, implicit structures, motifs, or cultural codes can guide interpretation. The category is sometimes contested, with some arguing that most works contain at least a minimal narrative frame, while others emphasize the emergent meaning of form and perception. Related terms include anti-narrative, experimental cinema, essay film, and visual poetry.