Narrative: The Basics - Lecture Review

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts and theorists in narrative theory based on the introduction to Narrative: The Basics by Bronwen Thomas.

Narrative

A pervasive form of human communication and cognition that shapes how individuals perceive reality, educate, and persuade.

Narrativity

The essential properties that constitute a narrative, traditionally identified by elements of events, sequence, and causality.

Narrativisation

A reading strategy identified by Monika Fludernik where readers look for ways to understand events as part of a narrative.

Experientiality

Monika Fludernik's definition of narrativity centered on the presence of a conscious, embodied self experiencing emotions and sensations.

Cognitive Construct

Marie-Laure Ryan's definition of narrative as a medium-independent image of a concrete world evolving in time.

Constructivist View

The perspective, associated with Jerome Bruner, that stories are artificial creations shaped by the culture or society in which they exist.

Cognitive Narratology

A field drawing on psychology and cognitive sciences to understand how narrative forms shape the human ability to read minds and empathize.

The 'Narrative Turn'

A period in the 1960s and 1970s when the study of narrative moved beyond the humanities to influence the social sciences and sciences.

Unnarratable

A term coined by Gerald Prince referring to events that are too incidental or trivial to narrate, or are considered taboo.

Disnarrated

A concept by Gerald Prince referring to narrative elements that do not take place, such as a character's unfulfilled dreams or choices not made.

Story

The chronological sequence of events that serves as the basic abstraction or 'bare bones' underlying a narrative's telling.

Plot

The logical structuring of story events to show causal connections, motivation, and meaning.

Character

A participant in a narrative world, sometimes analyzed as an 'actant' focused on driving the action rather than psychological depth.

Narration

The process of telling a story and the choices made to bring events to life, often involving a narrating entity or narrator.

Storyworld

The real or imaginary environment, also known as diegesis, where the action of a narrative occurs and which readers reconstruct mentally.

Narratology

The systematic study of narrative that attempts to provide universal models for how stories function.

Postclassical Narratology

A critical shift in the field that moves away from universal scientific models to focus on context, power dynamics, and digital media.

$$Poetics$$

An ancient work by Aristotle ($384-322\,BC$) that introduced the concept of a unified plot with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Forster's Distinction

E.M. Forster distinguished story ('The king died and then the queen died') from plot ('The king died and then the queen died of grief') based on causality.