“The Answer to the Great Question” : The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and Narrative Worldmaking 

Sammanfattning: Abstract Cognitive narratology constitutes the study of mind-related aspects of storytelling embracing the nexus of narrative and mind. Theorists in the sphere of cognitive narratology believe that the mental capacities of the reader provide basis for narrative experience involving him or her in the process of co-creation of narrative worlds. This paper examines how The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams engages the reader in the process of co-creation of the narrative world of these novels. The theory of narrative worldmaking is the theoretical framework of this thesis. The analysis of Adams’s novels is structured around three key parameters for the narrative worldmaking: characters, space, and time. As this thesis demonstrates, characters, space, and time as the key elements of Adams’s storytelling strategy prompt readers to use their imagination to a high degree to co-create the narrative world of the novels.