Narratology Terms 1. Narrative & Narrator: Once a fabula / story or discourse is set to paper, this narrative is frozen in time forever at the viewpoint provided by the narrator. So who‘s the narrator? The story teller. In The Lovely Bones, the story teller is a young murdered girl who narrates the story from heaven. The narrative is simply the story itself, all the dialogue and description from which the reader extracts all meaning. 2. Fabula / Story vs. Discourse: ―The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time but in their significance to ourselves they find their own order, a timetable not necessarily—perhaps not possibly—chronological. The time as we know it subjectively is often the chronology that stories and novels follow: it is the continuous thread of revelation.‖ – Eudora Welty. Herein lies the
distinction between Fabula / Story vs. Discourse: A fabula, or story, details chronological events where as discourse refers to how the events are presented. Most plots we read and / or write are not presented purely from start to finish; rather, most include flashbacks, flashforwards, and other scenarios that detract from a straight-line plot. In other words, What I want to say (Fabula / Story) versus How I’m going to say it (Discourse). 3. Diachronic vs. Synchronic Analysis: Diachronic Analysis is an analysis over a narrative‘s entire plot. For example, in Lord of the Flies, one could study the boys‘ speech behaviors from when they land to when they become savage to when they wage war and are finally rescued. This linguistic study stretches the entire length of the novel to show the digression from civilization to savagery and back. However, if one were simply to study the monosyllabic text of when Jack and his crew turn savage, one would be employing Synchronic Analysis, one scene or one point off the timeline. 4. Character: Narratologist David M. Kaplan defines character as ―the descriptive criteria that permit the identification and re-identification of an individual as the same … A character is made up of the lasting dispositions, habits and traits by which a person is recognized.‖ We can learn about character attributes either directly or indirectly {see entry #5}; regardless, the traits we gather about a character are those we always associate with him or her. Sherlock Holmes is associated with eccentric genius and flawless deduction, while Ebenezer Scrooge brings to mind heartless stinginess. Superman, on the other hand, defies gravity, moves at superhuman speeds, lifts incredible weights, and possesses x-ray vision. These traits automatically identify these characters and, in fact, are almost archetypical of their brand. 5. Attribute: Direct vs. Indirect {Action / Speech / External Appearance / Environment / Analogy} What‘s in parenthesis is from narratologist Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan. In her book Narrative Fiction, she states, ―There are two basic types of textual indicators of character: direct definition and indirect presentation. The first type names the trait by an adjective, an abstract noun, or possible some other kind of noun or part of speech. The second type, on the other hand, does not mention the trait but displays and exemplifies it in various ways, leaving the reader the task of inferring the quality they imply.‖ Direct comes straight from the character; there‘s no deduction or interpretation on the reader‘s part. Indirect is referenced in the 5 ways mentioned in parenthesis above. For example, when Blanche Dubois says, ―I rely on the kindness of strangers,‖ she‘s telling the audience of her vulnerability straight from her mouth. On the other hand, when we read the cast list of Death of a Salesman and see Willy Loman‘s name, we don‘t have to stretch our imagination too far to see the pun in Loman as Low-man, implying his delusional state.
6. Theme: According to narratologist Porter Abbott, theme is defined as ―a subject (issue, question) that recurs in a narrative through implicit or explicit reference…themes are abstract.‖ Don‘t confuse theme with motif (entry #9). Motifs are smaller, more specific units under the larger and more general umbrella of theme. The theme of a piece of fiction is its view about life and how people behave. ―In fiction, the theme is not intended to teach or preach. In fact, it is not presented directly at all. You extract it from the characters, action, and setting that make up the story. In other words, you must figure out the theme yourself. The writer's task is to communicate on a common ground with the reader. Although the particulars of your experience may be different from the details of the story, the general underlying truths behind the story may be just the connection that both you and the writer are seeking‖ (http://www.learner.org/exhibits/literature/read/theme1.html). By John Proctor refusing to relinquish his name, he redeems his earlier failure and restores his integrity prior to his death. Hence, the theme of preserving one‘s reputation in The Crucible. 7. Closure: Aristotle pointed out that all stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. Closure is the reader‘s feeling that the end provides ―unity, coherence, completion, and finality‖ (Prince). The close or end of a story wields determinative power since nothing can come after it. As we read, we constantly anticipate the end, and this affects the very nature of the narrative and the reading experience. A modern-day phenomenon to the technique of closure is the DVD release with alternate endings; in effect, each ending constitutes a completely new movie. For the cartoonist, closure occurs in the gutter; our mind creates the leap between each frame as it does in the interval of a clock‘s ―ticktock.‖
As Garfield walks and then stops to ponder in frames 1 and 2, we move to the third frame where he states, ―Mmmm…needs something.‖ He looks around in frame 4 while frame 5 is absent of Garfield. Our mind cannot accept the incomplete narrative. Finally, frame 6 arrives and all is well with the world as Garfield lounges in the pool under an umbrella. Closure.
8. Voice vs. Point of View: Gerard Genette distinguishes the two for us: only the novelist can decide the point of view from which the narration will take place; will the novelist select ―one of its characters‖ [1st person] or will it be ―told by a narrator outside the story‖ [3rd person]? Voice, on the other hand, is whom the narrative is expressed through. In first person, Point of View and Voice is usually one-in-the-same. In third person, the two are separate. ―Like the brief doomed flare of exploding suns that registers dimly on blind men‘s eyes, the beginning of the horror passed almost unnoticed; in the shriek of what followed, in fact, was forgotten and perhaps not connected to the horror of it all … Chris MacNeil was propped in bed, going over her lines for the next day‘s filming…At approximately 12:25 a.m., Chris glanced from her script with a frown of puzzlement. She heard rapping sounds‖ (Blatty 11-12). The Point of View is omniscient; a God-like presence knows what‘s happening to all characters. The voice, however, will be that of Chris MacNeil‘s, for the reader will receive the horror of The Exorcist via the mother of a possessed girl in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. 9. Motif: A ―minimal thematic unit‖ that serves to carry a larger meaning throughout the narrative. Motif should not be confused with theme. Theme is the larger umbrella (more abstract and general) under which motif resides; motifs work to communicate and reemphasize the theme. Let‘s go the Bible for an example of a motif. In the Book of Genesis, the motif of separation is prevalent: God separates light from dark; Abraham is separated from his descendants, and Joseph is separated from his brothers. This constant motif of separation builds to a much larger theme, perhaps one of Duality. 10. Speed: The relationship between the duration of the narrative and the length of the narrative. For example, in Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, the soldier‘s hanging is described in gripping detail that takes several pages of text, even though the real life event lasts but a few seconds. On the other hand, Forrest Gump runs across the United States in but a few moments of film time when in reality this action would take months of footage. The speed of an event – on film or in a book – is determined by the author or director depending upon the influence and importance he / she deems necessary. 11. Frequency: The relationship between the number of times an event occurs within the narrative and the number of times the event is retold / recounted or remembered in the narrative. For example, in Tim O‘Brien‘s How to Tell a True War Story, Curt Lemon dies once in the narrative. Throughout the narrative, however, his death and the circumstances surrounding his death are retold / recounted or remembered at least five different times. The purpose of frequency, then, is to emphasize the psychological importance of an event. 12. Distance: Distance is the reader‘s degree of attachment to the narrative. In Hemmingway‘s short story, The Killers, the narrator delivers the story almost entirely in dialogue. It‘s as if we are eavesdropping! We are quite close to the action; there‘s very little distance between the narrator and the reader. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald delivers much information to his reader though narrative description and not dialogue, thus distancing us from Gatsby, the voice of the novel. 13. Intertextuality & Allusion: Intertextuality looks at what you know from the text in isolation and then considers its interaction with other texts. This relationship between texts is its Intertextuality. For example, The Simpsons parodied Edgar Allen Poe‘s poem
The Raven several Halloween episodes ago. The parody worked more deeply for those with an understanding of the popular poem. Thus, two separate texts were brought into a relationship. This is quite similar to an Allusion, an indirect reference to some piece of knowledge not mentioned; the author presumes the reader will know the information. For example, if I say that, ―He hit the ball like Babe Ruth,‖ most people will understand the power behind his swing, and that he probably hit a home run. 14. Anachrony: ―Chronologically misplaced.‖ Rock ‗n Roll music as the backdrop to A Knight’s Tale is chronologically misplaced. Will Smith flashforwards to himself as a single, old man living with his mother in an episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air. And of course, going back in time as in The Time Machine and Back to the Future are also examples of Anachrony. 15. Frame Narrative: A frame narrative is ―a narrative in which another narrative is embedded; a narrative functioning as a frame for another narrative by providing a setting for it‖ (Gerald Prince). Dino Felluga adds that a frame narrative usually has ―a different individual [who] narrates the story in each frame.‖ Beowulf is a frame narrative in that the epic poem begins and ends with a royal funeral. In this case, the action frames the discourse. Frankenstein, on the other hand, is a frame narrative in that the opening and closing letters are narrated by Robert Walton while chapters 1-24 are the voice – through Robert Walton – of Victor Frankenstein. 16. Tag Clause & Attribution: According to Gerald Prince, Tag Clause & Attribution can be defined as, ―A clause accompanying a character‘s discourse (speech or verbalized thought) and specifying the act of the speaker or thinker, identifying various aspects of the act, the character, the setting in which they appear, etc.‖ Poor Wanga ran her tongue lightly over her lips, as if she were feeling out where was chapped and hurt. ―Is this your first trip?‖ she asked. ―Oh, I‘ve been all over,‖ I said. ―To the Orient?‖ she asked. ―All over the Orient.‖ ―In Japan?‖ ―Bangkok,‖ I said. ―Where‘s Bangkok?‖ said Wanga, so softly I leaned near to her. In this quick exchange from John Irving‘s Setting Free the Bears, we see the tag line or attribution as ―she asked‖ or ―I said‖ until the last sentence when more information is added to help clarify action for the reader. 17. Mise en Abyme: A French terms meaning ―placing into the Abyss‖ or ―placing into infinity.‖ For narratological purposes, we can understand it as an image containing a smaller image of itself, of which the sequence seems to recur indefinitely, like standing in a hall of mirrors. A dream within a dream might be the film interpretation. In literature, we may have a character in a story who proceeds to write the very story in which he is himself a character. In this case, it‘s a form of self-reflection.
Mise en Abyme: continues indefinitely
The shape of the shield is repeated 2x, in yellow and in white
18. Paratext & Fictional Paratext: Philipe Lejeune describes paratext as ―a fringe of the printed text which in reality controls one‘s whole reading of the text.‖ This includes the books cover art, title page, prefaces, epigraphs, notes, post-notes and footnotes, reviews, chapter titles, illustrations, spine text, etc. The epigraph to Ray Bradbury‘s Fahrenheit 451 states, ―If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.‖ Paratextually, the reader is now aware of a story in which rebellion and bucking societal norm will be a theme. Fictional Paratext is a term I created in my Narratology class when presenting House of Leaves as my example.
Fictional Paratext is a conscious design by the author to portray a work of fiction as nonfiction through use of the paratextual elements. There are notes and footnotes throughout the text that create an air of reality, where as the story itself is quite fictional. 19. Freytag’s Pyramid / Triangle: ―diagrammatic representation of the structure of a tragedy…used to characterize various aspects of plot in narrative‖ (Prince). This is common from 5th grade forward.
20. Symbol: ―A word, phrase, image, or the like having a complex of associated meanings and perceived as having inherent value separable from that which is symbolized, as being part of that which is symbolized, and as performing its normal function of standing for or representing that which is symbolized: usually conceived as deriving its meaning chiefly from the structure in which it appears, and generally distinguished from a sign.‖ For example, the bald eagle symbolizes the boldness of American ingenuity as well as our adventurous spirit. The cross and the Star of David symbolize two of the world‘s major religions. And while most people will answer ―horse galloping on the surf‖ to what is in the picture below, they are technically incorrect. What they see is a picture of a horse galloping on the surf – the colors and lines and pixels come together to form what we commonly understand to be a horse. The horse itself is far too large to put on the paper you are reading. Thus, the colors and lines and pixels symbolize, are a sign of, the horse.
Which brings me to another point concerning pictures and technology – don‘t believe everything you see. The picture below was nominated by National Geographic as Photo of the Year! National Geographic! It‘s actually a composite – photo-shopped – of two pictures. Impressive nonetheless.