NARRATIVE TIME IN THE SHORT STORY A CHRISTMAS CAROL WRITTEN BY CHARLES DICKENS

Abstract

This study focuses on exploring the element of narrative time in the short story “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, based on Genette’s (1983) theoretical framework. The research examines the three main categories in Genette’s model of narrative time: order, duration, and frequency, to clarify how Dickens organizes and manipulates time to serve artistic and ideological purposes in the short story. By analyzing narrative techniques such as analepsis, prolepsis, ellipsis, summary, scene, pause, and various frequency patterns, the paper demonstrates that time in the work is not merely a storytelling device but also a means of expressing emotion, shaping character, and conveying profound moral messages. Through this study, the authors aim to contribute to the expansion of narrative literary approaches from a temporal perspective, while also opening up possibilities for comparing the sense of time in A Christmas Carol with other works or further exploring the element of narrative space within the same story.