Narratology (literary theory)
Narratology, or narrative theory, is a field of study focused on the analysis of narratives and their structures across various forms of media, including literature, film, and video games. It explores how narratives shape our understanding of the human experience, encompassing essential elements such as time, space, and change. Narratology distinguishes between two main components of a narrative: the "story," which refers to the events and characters within it, and the "discourse," which pertains to how those events are conveyed to the audience.
The study of narratology has roots in ancient philosophy, particularly Aristotle's Poetics, and has evolved through influences from structuralism and linguistics. Key figures in the development of narrative theory include Vladimir Propp, who analyzed folktales, and Gerard Genette, who introduced concepts such as focalization, examining the perspectives from which stories are told. Narratives can be presented from different points of view—first-person, second-person, and third-person—each offering unique insights into character experiences.
Additionally, narratology examines various narrative forms, such as linear and nonlinear storytelling, as well as interactive narratives that allow audience participation, common in video games. By analyzing these narrative structures, scholars can uncover universal themes and deepen their understanding of how stories influence culture and individual perception. This discipline remains relevant in contemporary discussions of media narratives within books, television, and pop culture, enhancing our comprehension of storytelling in everyday life.
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Narratology (literary theory)
In literary terms, narratology, or narrative theory, is the study of narrative and narrative structure. The field of narratology examines how narratives compare and how they color our perception of the world. Narratology also analyzes how narratives vary from other kinds of discourse. Humankind gains knowledge about essential parts of the human experience—including time, space, and change—from narrative forms, and they influence how people ascertain meaning.
Narratology has an important place in culture as media narratives—in the form of books, television, movies, and pop culture—saturate everyday life. All kinds of narratives contribute to the discipline, including fiction, nonfiction, film, comics, graphic novels, and video games.
Background
In literature and the arts, a narrator is the person telling a story. The narrative structure is the framework through which a story is told. The framework is comprised of the story—which introduces characters, setting, and dramatic action—and the plot, which sets up conflicts and resolves them.
Narratology asks how the structure of a narrative organizes itself. The study breaks down a narrative into two main parts: the story and the discourse.
The story is what happens in a narrative. This includes the order of events, made up of actions and happenings, and the existents, such as the characters and setting. The story also integrates context, which can be geographical, cultural, or historical. The discourse is how the story is told. This includes the narration and the perspective through which the narrative is presented.
Narratology traces its origins to Greek philosopher Aristotle's Poetics. Its modern roots are based on linguistics, the study of human speech, and structuralism, which focuses on structural linguistics.
Structuralism rose in Europe in the early 1900s. The movement proposed that all human narratives have universal themes in common. A dominant branch of structuralists, the Russian formalists, laid the foundations for narrative theory during the first quarter of the twentieth century. The influential Vladimir Propp analyzed the narratives of Russian folktales in his 1928 book Morphology of the Folktale.
The Russian formalists believed narrative consisted of two levels: the fabula, or fable, which is the story and the totality of its events, and the sjuzet, or plot, which is how the reader becomes aware of what happened in the story.
French structuralists shared a similar view of narrative and left their own imprint on narratology. Claude Lévi-Strauss published Structural Anthropology in 1958. Tzvetan Todorov devised the term narratology in 1969's Grammaire du Décaméron. Gerard Genette wrote Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method in 1983, which provides a systematic theory of narrative. Genette coined the term focalization, which describes the point of view through which a narrative is expressed.
Overview
Narratology analyzes narratives and their structures across a variety of mediums and genres, from books to television and movies. In fiction, narratives create a simulated world, in a specific time and place, in which humans live and interact. Narratives utilize different points of view and varied forms to tell a story.
There are three main points of view, also called narrative perspective: first person, second person, and third person.
The first-person point of view is revealed by a character in the story who relates the chronological events of the plot. He or she uses I to share what he or she thinks, feels, and sees. This point of view is subjective and possibly biased, as the reader, viewer, or listener is only being told one side of the story. This character is usually the protagonist and considered the focus of the story.
In a second-person point of view, a character who seems emotionally distanced from the story addresses the audience or sometimes another character. He or she uses you and yourself throughout the recounting of the story. This point of view is rarely used in fiction. However, the perspective can be used to make the reader feel as if he or she is a character in the story.
The third-person point of view is not revealed by a character in the story but by an outside, nameless figure who tells the story. This narrator uses pronouns like he, she, it, or they to describe the characters and their actions. This is the most frequently used point of view in fiction; it allows the author more freedom in what information and details can be included.
The third-person perspective can be broken down even further. The third-person subjective point of view conveys more than one character's thoughts and feelings, while the third-person objective point of view does not describe the perceptions of any characters. Third-person omniscient point of view involves an all-knowing narrator who is aware of all people and events in the story. This narrator can convey the thoughts of all characters. Meanwhile, a third-person limited point of view is restricted to a single character. The narrator tells the story from this character's perspective and only relates his or her feelings.
There are four main forms of narratives. Linear narratives relate the events in the order in which they occurred. It is the most frequently used technique. Nonlinear narratives portray events outside of chronological order, jumping around from event to event. Flashbacks, which demonstrate what happened to a character in the past, can be used in linear and nonlinear narratives. Interactive narration is used in digital storytelling, such as video games. This form allows users to choose their actions so they can access the next piece of the story. Players complete a task or finish a level to move up in the game. Interactive narratives allow users to drive the story through the decisions they make. Each choice reveals a new set of possibilities. This form is used in video games and some books that allow readers to choose their own endings.
Those who study narratology use point of view and narrative forms to determine how narratives differ from other kinds of discourse, such as analyses, lists, lyric poems, arguments, and conversations.
The perspectives and forms provide a foundation to analyze the narrative media that has gained prominence in daily life. The genres of fiction and nonfiction, films, documentaries, comics, graphic novels, video games, and oral narratives are subject to being studied in narratology.
Studying what makes up the narratives of these forms influences literature, television, and film criticism. Breaking down narrative structures helps people understand these works of art, find universal themes, and relate them to their own lives.
Bibliography
Bal, Mieke. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. 3rd ed., U of Toronto P, 2009.
Chatman, Seymour. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Cornell UP, 1978.
Felluga, Dino. "General Introduction to Narratology." Purdue University, 2011, www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/narratology/modules/introduction.html. Accessed 5 Dec. 2016.
Fludernik, Monika. An Introduction to Narratology. Translated by Patricia Häusler-Greenfield and Monika Fludernik, Routledge, 2009.
Genette, Gerard. Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method. Translated by Jane E. Lewin, Cornell UP, 1980.
Hühn, Peter, et al, editors. Handbook of Narratology. 2nd ed., Walter de Gruyter GbmH and Co., 2009.
Kowaleski Wallace, Elizabeth, editor. Encyclopedia of Feminist Literary Theory. Routledge, 2009.
"What Is Narrative Theory?" Project Narrative, Ohio State University, projectnarrative.osu.edu/about/what-is-narrative-theory. Accessed 5 Dec. 2016.