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TEMPORAL MECHANICS/ˈkrɒnətoʊp/
Chronotope
Etymology: Greek 'chronos' (time) + 'topos' (space).
Theorist Origin: Mikhail Bakhtin, 'Forms of Time and of the Chronotope in the Novel' (1937)
Formulaic Definition
The intrinsic connectedness of spatial and temporal relationships that are artistically expressed in literature—where time thickens and becomes visible, and space responds to the movements of time, plot, and history.
Formal Mathematical / Diagrammatic Model:
Chronotope = MetricTensor(Space, Time) characterizing a specific genreCanonical Literature Specimen
“The Chronotope of the Road (random encounters across social classes in picaresque novels); The Chronotope of the Castle (historical feudal claustrophobia in Gothic fiction).”
Related Lexicon Terms
HeteroglossiaDiegesisSetting