Prolepsis, or flash forward, is a narrative technique to which an author resorts to describe events that occur in a period of time that corresponds to the future of the present time of the story. The utilization of this technique is very common both in literature and cinema, and it can be used in theatre as well.
Less common than the analepsis, which describe events in the past, the prolepsis is normally used when the story is being told by a narrator in the first-person, in books; in movies, or even in theatre, the use of the prolepsis is not tied to such strict rules as it is in literature, and this advances or jumps in the timeline don’t have to be clearly indicated by any of the characters.
Therefore, a prolepsis can appear in a direct and open way, in which there is a clear indication of the flash forward, or in a more subtle form, and by doing so the reader or viewer will only realize that a certain event occurred in the future later on in the story.
This technique is very common both in literature and cinema, and it can be used in theatre as well.
Less common than the analepsis, which describes events in the past, the prolepsis is normally used when the story is being told by a narrator in the first-person, in books; in movies, or even in theatre, the use of the prolepsis is not tied to such strict rules as it is in literature, and this advances or jumps in the timeline don’t have to be clearly indicated by any of the characters.
Therefore, a prolepsis can appear in a direct and open way, in which there is a clear indication of the flash forward, or in a more subtle form, and by doing so the reader or viewer will only realize that a certain event occurred in the future later on in the story.
