Difference between revisions of "Narratology"
From Angl-Am
Olaf Simons (Talk | contribs) |
Olaf Simons (Talk | contribs) (→FOCALISATION AND NARRATION) |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
'''FOCALISATION: WHO SEES?''' | '''FOCALISATION: WHO SEES?''' | ||
Revision as of 12:38, 12 June 2007
FOCALISATION: WHO SEES?
Position of the focaliser relative to the story:
- External focalisation vs. Internal focalisation
- View of the focalised from outside vs. from within
NARRATION: WHO SPEAKS?
Temporal relations between narration and story:
- 'ulterior narration' [after the events]
- 'anterior narration' [before the events]
- 'simultaneous narration' [during the events]
- 'intercalated narration' [narration and events alternate, e.g. in epistolary novels]
Narrative Levels:
- extradiegetic level: The level "immediately superior to the first narrative and concerned with its narration".
- diegetic level: "the events themselves" [diegesis = story]
- hypodiegetic level: "stories told by fictional characters [...] a second degree narrative"
"The diegetic level is narrated by an extradiegetic narrator, the hypodiegetic level by a diegetic (intradiegetic) one" (p. 92)
Functions of hypodiegetic narratives:
- Actional function: the hypodiegetic narrative contributes to the development of the plot
- Explicative function: the hypodiegetic level offers an explanation of the diegetic level
- Thematic function: the hypodiegetic narrative is in analogy to main narrative
A TYPOLOGY OF NARRATORS
Narrators may be distinguished in the following respects:
By Narrative Level: extradiegetic narrators, intradiegetic narrators, hypo- and hypohypodiegetic narrators.
By the Extent of Participation in the Story: Homodiegetic narrators are involved in the story, heterodiegetic narrators are not.
By their Degree of Perceptibility:
- Description of setting.
- Identification of characters.
- Temporal summary.
- Definition of character.
- Reports of what characters did not think or say.
- Commentary.
By Reliability: Signs of unreliability are:
- the narrator has limited knowledge;
- is personally involved;
- represents a problematic value-scheme.
- Source: Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan. Narrative Fiction. Contemporary Poetics. London, New York: Routledge. 1994 [1983]. 71–105.
