Narration
Narration is the act of telling a story, encompassing the recounting of events through various forms of speech and writing. It originates from the Old French term "narracion," indicating a retelling or account. Narration can be found in diverse genres, including poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction, as well as in songs, visual arts, and films. The individual who tells the story is called a narrator, and their perspective can significantly shape the narrative.
There are different narrative points of view: first-person, where a character uses "I" and shares personal experiences; second-person, which addresses the reader as "you"; and third-person, where the narrator is outside the story, using "he," "she," or "they." Each perspective influences how the story is perceived. Voice plays a crucial role in narration, providing insights into the narrator's character and the reliability of their account. Additionally, storytelling traditions, especially oral ones, are vital in many cultures, serving to pass on knowledge and shape identity through generations.
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Narration
Narration is the process or action of telling of a story. Narration recounts a sequence of events in speech or writing. The word narration comes from the Old French word narracion, meaning a statement, account, or retelling. Examples of narrative forms include poetry, drama, fiction (including literary novels, graphic novels, novellas, short stories, and flash fiction), and nonfiction writing (including journalism, biographies, memoirs, and accounts of history). Narration is also found in genres such as songs, jokes, visual art, photography, television, and film. Narration exists anytime a story is told. The person telling the story is referred to as a narrator.
Overview
Stories are narrated in a variety of forms and from a variety of perspectives. Oral storytelling is one example of narrative form. Many of the indigenous peoples of North America have strong oral storytelling traditions. They use stories to pass on knowledge about culture and ecology through generations. Narration is part of identity formation for many people. However, the narrator of a story is not always the author of the story.
Narration can occur from several different points of view. If the author is telling a story from their own perspective, or if a main character in a story is the narrator, the narrative is told from the first-person point of view. In first-person narration, the story is limited to the experiences and observations of a single character who uses the pronoun “I,” in self-reference, although multiple characters in a work may take turns at first-person narration. In the novel The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, five characters narrate the novel from their own first-person points of view, each in separate chapters. Second-person point of view is the least common form of narration. In second-person narration, the main character is referred to as “you.” Readers often feel pulled into the story and implicated in its events. Lorrie Moore’s collection of short stories, Self-Help, exhibits skillful use of the second-person perspective. Finally, a narrative told from the third-person point of view uses pronouns “he,” “she,” and/or “they” to refer to the characters and is recounted from the perspective of someone who is not a character in the story. Third-person point of view can be limited to the consciousness of one character in the story (known as third-person limited) or have access to the subjectivity of all of the characters (known as third-person omniscient).
Voice is a key component of narration. The voice in which a story is told is a gives the reader insights into the character of the narrator. Narrative voice is analyzed through dialect features, rhythm, and intonation.
Narrators who mislead the audience are known as unreliable narrators. One example of an unreliable narrator is the character Holden Caulfield in the novel The Catcher in the Rye.
In addition to literary genres, songs often contain narration. Ballads, or stories set to music, are a common song type in English and American folk traditions, among others. Narration can also be a visual process. Walter Evans’s photographs of tenement families in Alabama in the 1930s narrate the story of the Great Depression. These images are published alongside writing from the author James Agee in the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.
Bibliography
Bage, Grant. Narrative Matters: Teaching and Learning History through Story. New York: Falmer, 2012. Print.
Brockmeier, Jens, and Donal A. Carbaugh, eds. Narrative and Identity: Studies in Autobiography Self and Culture. Philadelphia: Benjamins, 2001. Print.
Fisher, Walter R. Human Communication as Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action. Columbia: U of South Carolina P, 1989. Print.
Hart, Jack. Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction. Chicago: Chicago UP, 2012. Print.
Frank, Arthur W. Letting Stories Breathe: A Socio-Narratology. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2010. Print.
Herman, David, and James Phelan. Narrative Theory: Core Concepts and Critical Debates. Columbus: Ohio State UP, 2012. Print.
Landa, Jose Angel Garcia, and Susanna Onega. Narratology: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2014. Print.
Maynes, Mary Jo, Jennifer L. Pierce, and Barbara Laslett. Telling Stories: The Use of Personal Narratives in the Social Sciences and History. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 2008. Print.
Phelan, James. Living to Tell About It: A Rhetoric of Ethics of Character Narration. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 2005. Print.