Introduction to Literary Analysis Part 3

Narrative fiction

It is a narrated (meaning communicated by addresser to addressee) succession of events in a verbal medium, so written text on paper (that is not meant to be performed in contrast to drama). Each event is meaningful to the story/plot. Consists of a story and a plot.

Discourse

How the story is being told (what is the form of the narrative, who tells it to whom)

Story

A succession of events + What is being told

Plot

Combines what has happened and Why it has happend (narrative of succession of events, but the main attention is on the reason, why these events took place)

Narrator

Mediating instance (a person or entity who tell the story)

Narrative consists of… (French narratology)

Story and Form (Discourse)

Narrative consists of… (Genette)

Story, Text, and Narration

First-person narrative

“I”, this person/character = the narrator, the character is a part of a fictional world and tells us the story that took place there; the narrator is overt (clearly visible); limited point of view because the character doesn’t know anything except for his own thoughts and interpretations of events (ex. “The sense of an Ending”)

Reliable narrator (first-person)

The character and the story he tells can be trusted, it is consistent

Unreliable narrator (first-person)

The character can be biased, doesn’t know the whole picture, ommits some information for various reason (it can be dishonesty, not remembering something, mental illness, etc.)

Authorial narrative

3rd person, authorial doesn’t equal author; this narrator is overt and has unlimited knowledge and unrestricted perspective, as well (often) has an ability to penetrate the minds and even has access to character’s subconsciousness. Is not part of the book world

Figural narrative

Covert (invisible) narrator, that presents events through the character’s perspective; limited point of view, but with a 3rd person narration; is often employed for the expression of stream of consciousness

Stream of consciousness

We are in the mind of the person and follow their thoughts

According to the position of the narrator in the story, narrator can be…

Extradiegetic and Intradiegetic

Extradiegetic narrator

Outside of the story that he/she tells, either first or third person (ex. adult telling the story of their childhood)

Intradiegetic narrator

Inside of the story that he/she tells (only exists if you have an embedded story and if the narrator is someone in the frame story, who tells this embedded story - tells story within a story)

Frame story (narrative)

Is basically the main story that may consist of embedded ones

Flat character

A character type, the one that has some set function in the text, usually not psychologically deep by any means (ex. Bad cop and good cop, a clown, a mean girl, etc.)

Round character

Psychologically complex characters, usually main characters

Heterodiegetic narrator

The narrator is not part of the story/storyworld, not a character (so, third person narration)

Homodiegetic narrator

The narrator is part of the story/storyworld, a character (so, first person narration)

Autodiegetic narrator

Narrator is also a main character

Narrator

The one who speaks

Focalizer

The one who sees

Internal focalisation

Within the character, limits the information to their perceptual and conceptual grasp of the world

External focalisation

Presents character’s external behaviour, excluding feelings and thoughts

Zero focalisation

The perspective is not someone’s in particular or is not restricted by anything

Fixed focalisation

Restricted to one and the same perspective throughout the narrative

Variable focalisation

Different scenes are presented through different perspectives