The Fragmentary Model

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“Autobiographical accounts that share the ‘decenter,’ ‘open,’ ‘ludic,’ and ‘fragmentary’ agenda of postmodernist narrating (Francese, 1997) seek to emphasize the unpredictable nature of life, the spontaneous emergence of ‘projects’ that do not fit any traditional order” (Brockmeier, 2000, p. 69).

The fragmentary model describes narratives that do not follow the typical first-person autobiographical narrative style (Brockmeier, 2000). This typically correlates with the postmodernist movement, as discussed in class. This model is also applicable to our discussion of parallel universes and the bifurcating times denoted in orange annotations in “The Garden of Forking Paths,” as both deal with the idea of multiple autobiographical narratives that can simultaneously exist. This model can also be applied to certain neuropsychological disorders, such as schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder in which multiple voices may exist.