#'unreliable narrators' aren't unreliable because they're describing the world as they see it without getting at some objective truth

[jaggedcliffs]

...at some point the definition of “unreliable narration” on this website has stopped describing actual unreliable narration and has just become...describing narration and point of view

#unless you have an omniscient narrator that is attempting for some sort of objectivity as if they're reporting the news... #most of the way I've seen the phrase 'unreliable narrator' used in the past couple years #has mostly just been in reference to 'a character with a pov' #that isn't an unreliable narrator my good dudes #that's just called 'telling a story through a certain voice' #anyway 'unreliable narrator' has a very distinct definition #and I've rarely seen it used correctly on here #and it is getting more and more irritating #'unreliable narrators' aren't unreliable because they're describing the world as they see it without getting at some objective truth #they're unreliable because they're lying and/or they've suffered a break with reality #either they can't be counted on to describe events as they perceived them #and/or they can't be counted on to describe an approximation of reality #like edgar allen poe's narrators as ur-examples are unreliable for one or both reasons #a character just telling a story through their pov does not fall under either category #technically every narrator is unreliable because everything is subjective an language contains ideology #hence: why there is a phrase for a narrator who is unreliable in a certain manner #literature #*screams into the void* #putting this in my queue so it comes out later