The life of texts chapter 5

narrativity

what makes narrative texts distinctive

narrative research

ordinary people are asked to tell their own stories, which are then analysed as a source of insight into dominant indeas and values

classical narratology

focus on the formal characteristics and underlying structures of stories

post-classical narratology

focus on how stories (re)shape our worldview, from the perspective of cultural criticism

narrative

The use of a medium and of narrative techniques to represent a series of connected events (vorm/shape)

story

the characters and actions evoked by the narrative (inhoud/content)

mimesis

direct representation of a story through enactment, the audience has direct access to the world of the story

diegesis

indirect representation through words, information if the world of the story is filtered through the words of a narrator

graphic novel

a combination of a novel and a comic book

convergence culture

between multiple media platforms, which are becoming ever more closely interlinked as information passes from one to another with the help of fans, but also through commercial interests. convergence culture opens up another area of concern for narratology: the question of how stories change when they transition from one medium to another

reality effect

the capacity of the writer to make the world of the story, even if this is fantasy, imaginable as a possible world. The willing suspension of disbelief

schematic

certain traits are defined, while others remain open

characterisation (2)

- telling: the narrator provides information about a character explicitly and directly

- showing: leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions

interactivity

an awareness of the constructedness of the narrative and a conscious willing suspension of disbelief

immersion

becoming lost in the story

plot

- the dramatic arc that holds a beginning, a middle and an end together

- the events of the story presented in a certain order or way

figurative level

in terms of the specific characters, places and actions presented in the narrative

motif

the smallest unit of information in a narrative, concerning characters, actions and places

motivation

the fact that every motif in a well-constructed story should have a function

compositional motivation

the inclusion of a piece of information in order to ensure logical continuity in the action

realistic motivation

the inclusion of information to give a sense that the characters and situations are real

actantial model (Greimas) (6)

- a subject or agent desires

- an object of value, but

- an opponent prevents them from getting it

- a helper intervenes with aid

- a sender with power over the object of value gives it to

- the receiver, in a happy ending the receiver is the subject, but if the story has an unhappy or ironic ending, this prize goes to someone else

narrator

the voice we literally hear in oral storytelling and figuratively hear in written texts

narrative modes (3)

converging on the issue of the narrators

- visibility

- involvement in the story

- reliability

frame narrative

one story that is embedde in another, creating a mise en abyme effect or droste effect

metafiction

a reflection within a story on the fictional status of the story itself, which is often seen as characteristic of postmodernism

anachrony (3)

describes deviations between narrative time (relating to the narration) and story time (relating to the events depicted)

- duration

- frequency

- sequencing

narrative rhythm

combination of slowing down and speeding up particular moments

focalisation

the relationship between the story world and the centre of consciousness from which it is apprehended (point of view)

focaliser

the subjectivity through whom events are filtered/the subjectivity or centre of consciousness through which the world of the story is experienced

double focalisation

narrator and character form the centre of consciousness together

interior monologue/free direct speech

readers have apparently direct access to a character's stream of consciousness

empathetic abilities

ability to exercise our imagination so as relate to the world as others see it

heteroglossia/polyphony

multi-tongued: the occurrence of different discourses or languages in a story

narrator text

the words produced by the narrator

character text

the words imagined as having been produced, in speech or writing, by characters

diegetic summary

the reader learns only that a character said something at a certain moment without knowing anything about what was said

indirect speech

the reader learns the topic of the characters conversation, but through the narrator's words/the narrator paraphrases the words/thoughts of a character

direct speech

the character's text verbatim: the words used are usually shown between inverted commas

free indirect speech

the character's text and the narrator's text are mixed, but in such a way that features of each are still visible. characteristics of the narrator's text occur in combination with characteristics of the character's text

preformativity

it means both "acting out" and "having an effect"

narratology

the study of the forms and functions of narratives

Fabula

a series of logical or chronological related events as they are experienced or caused by the 'actors'

internal/Character-bound narration (homodiegetic narration)

narrator participates in the story world (often first person)

external narration (heterodiegetic narration)

narrator does not participate in the story world (often third person)

external focalisation

the narrator is focaliser/the reader sees the world through the eyes of an external narrator

internal/character-bound focalisation

we look through the eyes if a character