NARRATIVE TEXTS: STRUCTURE AND CHARACTERISTICS 1. Introduction 2. The Story Level 2.1 Action 2.2 Characters 2.3 Setting 3.The Plot Level 3.1 The Narrative Point of View 3.2 Modes of Speech Presentation 3.3 Distribution of Time 4. Conclusion 5. Bibliography • • • Jahn, Manfred. 2005. Narratology: A Guide to the Theory of Narrative. English Department, University of Cologne Genette, Gérard. 1980 Narrative Discourse. Oxford: Blackwell. Bal, Mieke. 1978. Narrative Theory: Critical Concepts in Literary and Cultural Studies. London: Routledge. Fuente de Internet: http://www.uni-koeln.de/~ame02/pppn.htm#N3.3 Bal and the French Genette were the first to try a definition from a structural viewpoint. many linguists have offered their own analysis of narratology. Propp. narratology involves from poems. There are different ways of analyzing the characteristics of narratives. it has been thought appropriate to consider the narrative text from a structural point of view. We will deal with the components of the story level and the parameters which are essential for the plot connectivity. that is. Ultimately. to an episode and then to a story highlights the structuralist orientation of the narratological approach. THE STORY LEVEL The label narrative is used to refer to all those literary genres in which the author/encoder deals with factual and/or conceptual phenomena in time. including literary and nonliterary. According to structuralism.1.Events are grouped into episodes which. 2. the overarching difference is clearly that between fictional and non-fictional. jokes. Along the course of History. However. riddles or fairy tales to operas. The story is the actual sequence of events as they would have occurred while the latter is the artistic presentation of these events. conform the whole story. Characters and Setting. at the same time. fictional and non-fictional and verbal and non-verbal. . cartoons and computer games. The progression from a single event to a sequence of events. Let’s proceed to analyse them and give their main characteristics. Here we will concentrate in the structuralist sequence of events (Tomachevski). INTRODUCTION As a way of introduction. for the discourse. the roots of narratology go back to Plato’s and Aristotele’s distinction between “mimesis” (imitation) and “diegesis” (narration). Narratologies are concerned with all types of narratives. a story is a sequence of events or actions (which are here treated as synonyms). the imaginary world and real world and real stories. for the aim and scope of this presentation. More specifically. ballets. and the distinction between “Story” and “Plot”. However. the Russian formalists Tomachevski. It is traditionally considered that the basic elements of narrative texts on the story level are Action. Alexandria Quartet) Perspective structure. there are two different major structures in narrative texts: temporal-logical order and spatial order. This distribution of events has traditionally belonged to poetry. The arrangement or syntax of narrative texts responds to the classical order of the units of action. Manhattan Transfer). The units of action are related in a progressive way.2. a) The Temporal-logical order is the most common manner of organizing events. However. o Complication: it is the catalyst that begins the major conflict. in which the theme is repeated introducing variants (e. Other types of structures of organizing events have been created: Alternate structure.g. Musical structure.g. b) Spatial order. According to Tomachevski. Plot is the logical and causal structure of the story. o Climax: it is the turning point in the story that occurs when the characters try to resolve the complication o Resolution: the set of events that bring the story to a close. . These visions can be complementary or contradictory (e.1 Action The term ‘Action’ refers to a sequence of acts and events. the sum of events constituting a ‘story line’. in which the story is fragmented into different blocks which are distributed alternately. These ideas were encouraged by the fact that television and cinema seemed to be replacing novels in their traditional function. following a chronological order. which presents the same story through the filter of various consciences. Our mind usually associates causality and temporality. ‘Story’ is the chronological sequence of events. whose main stages are: o Exposition: offers the information needed to understand the story.g. The sound and the fury). An ‘action unit’ or narreme is a distinct point (or segment) on the story line. The basic question concerning plot structure is “Why does this happen?” There are different ways of distributing plot connectivity. The main question concerning story structure is “What happens next?” It is important to nota that narrative discourse does not necessarily have to present the story in a purely chronological fashion. since contemporary novel (Joyce and Faulkner) the story loses importance and the disposition of the elements which make it possible to tell the story become essential. Every action unit is the causal consequence of something that happened before. not in succession (e. The basic analytical question is WHO (subject) defines WHOM (object) as being WHAT (as having which properties). The may be open-ended. the point of attack is set near the climax of the action. b) Endings (closures) are the type of conclusions that end a text. Depending on whether the characterizing subject is the narrator or another character of the story. 3. Formally. For a beginning in “media res”. 2. Self-characterization (auto-characterization) Vs altero-characterization. Many modern texts. Explicit Vs implicit. Modern short stories typically begin in media res. verbal statements define the character with certain properties and traits. however.In narrative texts. conclude enigmatically. A story beginning “ab ovo” typically begins with the birth of the protagonist and a state of equilibrium or non conflict. 2. simply stop. According to Pfister’s tree diagram. while in implicit characterization. the character is defined through his style of speech. behaviour or attitudes and is defined as the story unfolds. Depending on whether the characterizing subject characterizes himself/herself or somebody else. There are various ways of starting or ending a story: a) Point of attack is the event chosen to begin the primary action line. narratives conclude with an epilogue or scene. the main conflict is usually resolved by means of marriages. Pfister’s tree diagram . Narratorial Vs Figural. characterization analysis focuses on three basic parameters: 1. lack closure. death or other morally or aesthetically satisfactory outcome producing a state of equilibrium. For a beginning “in ultima res” the point of attack occurs after the climax and near the end. In traditional plot oriented texts.2 Characters Characterization analysis investigates the ways and means of creating the personality of fictional characters. The opening passage of a text is also called incipit. ambiguously or even present alternative endings. beginnings and endings become essential. In explicit characterization. Literary space in this sense is more than a stable place or setting. which are the nucleous of the action. the characters previously defined as extras become very important. c) The social setting is the space given by human relationships. The literary space or setting can be physical. Forster. The transformation of the linguistic units into the narrative discourse can be determined by certain parameters: the narrative point of view. Before that it was just considered as the wrapping of the story. In this kind of setting. 3. or pragmatic units. THE PLOT LEVEL There are different ways to present a story.M. when their function is determined by their relationships with other characters. It includes from landscapes or cities to climatic conditions. psychological or social. They are one dimensional figures with a very restricted range of speech and action. We can . on the other hand. but not playing an important role on the story • Extras. Rounded characters. Finally. depending on their composition. As regards the importance or prominence of the characters in the story. characters can be described as syntactic units.3 Setting The literary space or setting can be defined as the environment which situates the characters. a) The physical setting as an important part of the story was discovered in Romanticism (thelandscape). They are not reducible to a type and often develop in the course of action. 2. when the character carries a meaning determined by the whole of the literary work. according to novelist and critic E. when their function is determined by the relationship between the character and the author or reader. b) The psychological setting changes depending on the mood or the attitude of the characters and therefore loses its neutrality and objectivity. as they directly define the setting of the story. the space where the characters move and live in. whose function is to contribute to the creation of the setting. semantic units. characters may be “flat” or “rounded”: • • Flat characters can be simplified or reduced to a type or even a caricature. the modes of speech and the presentation and distribution of time. This kind of setting has been essential in the psychological novel of the XXth century. are three dimensional figures characterized by many and often conflicting properties. They do not develop along the story.From a structural point of view. • Marginal characters. closely related to the main characters. they can be: • Central characters. “I as a witness-protagonist” and “I as an uninvolved eyewitness”. An authorial narrator sees the story from an outsider’s position. b) An Authorial narrative is told by an omniscient narrator who does not appear in the story as a character. “I as a minor character”. a group of collective internal focalizers. often a position of absolute authority that allows him/her to know everything about the story’s world and its characters. the narrator) and “from whose point of view?” Before analysing the different narratorial situations. how it is to be told and what is to be left out. f) Simultaneous narrative. This is the purely external or behaviourist representation of events. A text reads like a transcription of a recording made by a camera . 3. In addition to these three standard narrative situations. An author who desires to write a narrative text can choose between three main narrative situations: a) A First person narrative is told by a narrator who is present as a character in his/her story telling the events that he/she has experienced him/herself. Besides the most common functional roles of “I as a protagonist” and “I as a witness”. e) You-narrative/second person narrative. The narrator presents a story which unfolds as it is narrated. we can identify other four minor situations: “I as a co-protagonist”. The narrator presents the events from a collective point of view. He/She is the agent who establishes communicative contact with an addressee (the narratee). it is essential to provide a brief definition of the Narrator. The protagonist is referred to in the second person. The narrator is the speaker or the voice of the narrative discourse. who manages the exposition and decides what is to be told.create many different stories out of one single idea by different combinations of these parameters. we may also mention other peripheral categories: d) We-narrative.1 The Narrative Point of View Most of modern narratologists agree with Genette that the narrative analysis revolves around two basic questions: “Who speaks” (the voice of the story. Often a figural narrative text presents a distorted or restricted view of the events. g) Camera-eye narration. c) A Figural narrative presents the story’s events as seen through the eyes of a third person “reflector” character. “Telling” is a diegetic mode of presentation in which the narrator controls the presentation of events. the current point in time in discourse time: the narrator's NOW. There are two major narrative modes: scenic presentation and summary presentation: • • Scenic presentation is a showing mode which offers a continuous stream of events. a character's NOW Depending on the anteriority or posteriority relationship between Discourse-NOW and Story-NOW. E. a text’s use of tenses depends relates to and depends on the current point in time of the narrator’s speech act. usually. Hence. the tense used in a character’s discourse depends on the current point in time in the story’s action. one can distinguish three major cases: . tenses and time and place references. the current point in time in story time. E.3 Distribution of Time There are two main narrative tenses: the narrative present and the narrative past.3. Its durational aspect is isochrony. Naturally. Durational aspect: speed-up. “What on earth shall I do now” b) Free indirect discourse is a representation of a character’s words or verbalized thoughts which is (a) indirect in the sense that pronouns and tenses of the quoted discourse are aligned with the structure of the narrative situation. and (b) free. which are correlated with “mimesis” and “diegesis”. to the extent that the discourse quoted appears in the form of a non-subordinate clause.g. • • discourse-NOW. • • “Showing” is a mimetic mode of presentation with little or no presence of narratorial mediation.g. story-NOW. As regards the style of discourse. Summary presentation is a telling mode in which the narrator condeses a sequence of action events into a thematically focused an orderly account.2 Modes of Speech Presentation Modes or manners of speech presentation follow the traditional distinction between “showing” and “telling”. free indirect and indirect discourse: a) Direct discourse is characterized by presenting a character’s words or thoughts placed within quotation marks. characterization and point of view arrangements. E.g. Mary said. 3. Normally. The reader is basically a witness to the events. They are based on the degree of presence or overtness of the narrator in the story. as an attributive clause. She wondered what she should do. we may distinguish between direct. What on earth should she do now? c) Indirect discourse is a form of representing a character’s words or thought using indirect speech and adjusting pronouns. an episode’s discourse time is considerably shorter than its story time. e) Pause. Prospective narration produces a future tense narrative which recounts events that have not yet occurred. an episode’s discourse time is considerabli longer than its story time.g. discourse time elapses on description or comment while story time stops and no action actually takes place. or. . Retrospective narration produces a past tense narrative whose events or actions units have all happened in the past. CONCLUSION As a conclusion we will merely point out some aspects that will summarize the foregoing information. narrative point of view. by the whole action) and discourse time (the time it takes an average reader to read a passage. the whole text). modes of speech presentation and distribution of time. A stretch of story time shich is not textually represented at all. though time continues to pass in the story. more globally. b) I speed-up / acceleration. 4. one compares story time (the fictional time taken up by an action episode. Speed-up typically characterizes a “summary” mode of presentation. on-the-scene reporting) 3. During a pause. diaries. In the second section we have analyzed the story level and its three main elements: action. In relation to the order or chronology of the story. 2. which has been developed in the second and third sections. We have given an introduction to the topic and we have presented the structuralist approach to the narrative texts. more globally. in order to assess a narrative passage’s speed or tempo. Concurrent narration produces a present tense narrative whose action takes place at the same time as it is recounted (e. Slow-down is a rare phenomenon.1. c) In slow-down / deceleration. Finally. or. The two main types of anachrony are flashbacks or retrospections (the presentation of events that have occurred before the current story-NOW) and flashforwards or anticipations (the presentation of a future event before its proper time). This is normally the case in passages containing lots of dialogue. d) Elipsis / cut / omission. The third section has been devoted to the plot level of narratives and the analysis of the major parameters of plot connectivity. we have to mention: a) Anachrony – a deviation from strict chronology in a story. The discourse halts. characters and setting. b) Achrony – a sequence of wholly temporally unordered events. The following major types of relationship occur: a) In Isochronous presentation story time and discourse time are approximately equal. fictional and non fictional. . The ultimate goal of this analysis is to move from the taxonomy of elements to the understanding of how these elements are arranged in actual narratives texts. themes and parameters establish a set of universals that determine the make up of a story.We will conclude with the idea that the structuralists seek to understand how the recurrent elements.