{"product_id":"transgressing-time-edward-royston-9780814259825","title":"Transgressing Time: The Device at the Heart of Time Travel","description":"The first systemic analysis of time travel as narrative device, Edward Royston's \u003ci\u003eTransgressing Time\u003c\/i\u003e argues that as a fictional conceit, time travel can most fruitfully be understood from a narratological perspective that sidesteps questions of its plausibility. In service of this goal, Royston identifies the precise narrative device, \"anachronic metalepsis,\" that powers time travel. Existing at the confluence of narrative's power to manipulate temporality and fiction's power to transgress and displace across ontological boundaries, anachronic metalepsis demonstrates that the power of narrative itself is what enables time travel. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRoyston bolsters this concept through readings of classics such as \u003ci\u003eBack to the Future\u003c\/i\u003e and Octavia E. Butler's \u003ci\u003eKindred, \u003c\/i\u003e contemporary works such as the video game \u003ci\u003eOuter Wilds\u003c\/i\u003e and Scott Alexander Howard's \u003ci\u003eThe Other Valley, \u003c\/i\u003e and lesser-known works such as the nineteenth-century Spanish novel \u003ci\u003eEl Anacronópete.\u003c\/i\u003e These readings demonstrate how time travel functions across different mediums and genres and spotlights the ways authors and creators have used anachronic metalepsis to contend with themes of exile, freedom and consequences, the powers and pitfalls of nostalgia, the nature of history and our relationship to it, and the nature of time itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Edward Royston\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0814259820\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780814259825\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ohio State University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/27\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Edward Royston","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48443061371135,"sku":"9780814259825","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_8235e7d9-a96d-47a2-a9c9-475a87a2bc4a.jpg?v=1777201589","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/transgressing-time-edward-royston-9780814259825","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}