Difference between revisions of "Narratology"
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+ | ==Focalisation and Narration== | ||
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'''FOCALISATION: WHO SEES?''' | '''FOCALISATION: WHO SEES?''' | ||
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: Source: Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan. ''Narrative Fiction. Contemporary Poetics''. London, New York: Routledge. 1994 [1983]. 71–105. | : Source: Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan. ''Narrative Fiction. Contemporary Poetics''. London, New York: Routledge. 1994 [1983]. 71–105. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==Characterisation== | ||
+ | |||
+ | [= the modes by which information about individual characters is conveyed] | ||
+ | |||
+ | '''Direct definition of character''' | ||
+ | *Who defines? (narrator, characters, about self or others?) | ||
+ | *In what situation is the definition stated? | ||
+ | |||
+ | '''Indirect presentation''' | ||
+ | *Actions (commission / omission / contemplated action) | ||
+ | *Characteristics of Speech | ||
+ | *External appearance | ||
+ | *Environment | ||
+ | :: physical: room, house, street, town. | ||
+ | :: human: family, social connections. | ||
+ | |||
+ | '''Reinforcement of Characterisation by Analogy''' | ||
+ | *Names (telling names, symbolic names, etc.) | ||
+ | *Landscape. | ||
+ | *Contrasts and similarities between characters. | ||
+ | |||
+ | : Source: Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan. ''Narrative Fiction. Contemporary Poetics''. London, New York: Routledge. 1994 [1983]. 59–70. | ||
[[Category:Handout|Narratology]] | [[Category:Handout|Narratology]] |
Revision as of 13:45, 12 June 2007
Focalisation and Narration
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.
Characterisation
[= the modes by which information about individual characters is conveyed]
Direct definition of character
- Who defines? (narrator, characters, about self or others?)
- In what situation is the definition stated?
Indirect presentation
- Actions (commission / omission / contemplated action)
- Characteristics of Speech
- External appearance
- Environment
- physical: room, house, street, town.
- human: family, social connections.
Reinforcement of Characterisation by Analogy
- Names (telling names, symbolic names, etc.)
- Landscape.
- Contrasts and similarities between characters.
- Source: Shlomith Rimmon-Kenan. Narrative Fiction. Contemporary Poetics. London, New York: Routledge. 1994 [1983]. 59–70.