: Re: Term for future-tense technique that isn't exactly foreshadowing Not sure if this has a name, but I think it's best demonstrated with some examples I've seen: Nadia and her family both considered

@Rivera824

Vote Up Vote Down

I think more than one term would apply here.

From wiktionary,

flashforward (plural flashforwards). A dramatic device in which a future event is inserted into the normal chronological flow of a narrative.

This certainly applies, though as with flashback it suggests that you might experience a brief scene. I would argue that these sentences contain a vivid though spare scene, no action sequence required.

You might also think of it as an instance of foretelling on the part of an omniscient narrator, foretelling being a form of prophesy more frequently found in direct speech. It differs from foreshadowing because it's a direct statement of what the future will bring, rather than an oblique hint.

If this occurred in a way to suggest that the future events would unfold counter to characters' expectations, then it would be a form of dramatic irony, because it has been revealed to the spectator/reader.

There is an answer to a different SE question under English Language and Usage that offers a few other terms, none of which I like quite as much, here: SE: Literary term for referring to a future event in the story line

(0)

Login to post a comment!