Literary negotiations of grief experiences: a philosophical-narratological analysis of Denise Riley’s Time lived, without its flow

Philosophical grief research frequently draws on literary autobiographical grief narratives to motivate or substantiate assumptions about the phenomenology of grief. Yet, this research has not provided detailed analyses of the aesthetic-artefactual and narrative characteristics of these texts. To complement existing research and demonstrate the added benefits of focusing on a given text’s aesthetic and formal dimensions, this article offers a philosophical-narratological analysis of one of the most widely discussed literary grief narratives: Riley’s (2019/2012) Time Lived, Without Its Flow. By integrating philosophical considerations about grief with a narratologically informed analysis of Riley’s text, this article develops novel insights into the narrative expression, configuration, modulation, and performance of grief experiences. In so doing, it serves as proof of concept that the integration of philosophical research and narratological analysis can generate new insights into the characteristics and epistemic functions of literary grief narratives and the possibilities and limitations of narration to convey grief experiences.