STYLISTICS OF NOVEL

(survey by Ahmed Salah)

A novel aims for a comprehensive unified effect in which all of the elements of
fiction intertwine to make a comment on the human condition.

The elements of fiction are:

I. Story/Plot (FABULA AND SJUZET)

II. Character
III. Point of View
IV. Setting
V. Author/reader

I. Fabula And Sjuzet

Table of contents
 The Origin of the Terms
 Fabula
 Sjuzet
 An example differentiating between the Fabula and Sjuzet
 Summary

The Origin of the Terms

Fabula and syuzhet (also Sjuzet, sujet, sjužet, or suzet) are terms originating
in Russian Formalism and employed in Narratology that describe narrative
construction.

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Fabula
The fabula is the basic story stuff, the logic of actions or the syntax of
characters, the time-oriented course of events. Fabula is a story, composed of all
casual events in the work. It is produced by the reader of the work, through
interpretation. Fabula is not strictly defined by the author and is open to
interpretation by the reader who has a choice of whose point of perspective to
believe.

Sjuzet
The SYUZHET (the plot) is the story as actually told, along with all its
deviations, digressions, flashback, and the whole of the verbal devices. Sjuzet
combines the events of the fabula together into a coherent plot.

In short, the fabula is "the raw material of a story, and syuzhet, the way a story
is organized." Since Aristotle (350 BCE, 1450b25) narrative plots are supposed to
have a beginning, middle, and end. For example: the film Citizen Kane starts with
the death of the main character, and then tells his life through flashbacks
interspersed with a journalist's present-time investigation of Kane's life. This is
often achieved in film and novels via flashbacks or flash-forwards. Therefore, the
fabula of the film is the actual story of Kane's life the way it happened in
chronological order; while the syuzhet is the way the story is told throughout the
movie, including flashbacks.

An example differentiating between the fabula and Sjuzet

The story is not produced after the book/movie/game is finished. The story
is built as a direct product of the audience's imagination during the course of
experiencing the narrative. Good storytellers can go any number of things to
influence what fabula the audience will produce. They use archetypal characters,
familiar plot structures, and culturally recognizable metaphors.

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Looking at an example from a fictitious 1930s novel titled Gunshot at Midnight.

“Jack was a short man,”

Depending on one’s impression or one has likely formed something of a mental

picture of Jack.

“Jack was a short man, with a bitter laugh.”

One is now picturing Jack's face more clearly, perhaps hearing his laughter. One
may even be imagining the sort of person he is based upon the knowledge that
his laugh is bitter.

“Jack was a short man, with a bitter laugh. All his life, Jack felt
uncomfortable in his own skin.”

One perhaps feels sympathy for Jack, Imagining for him a self-conscious
mannerism.

“Jack was a short man, with a bitter laugh. All his life, Jack felt
uncomfortable in his own skin. When he graduated from college,
fifteen years ago now,”

Now one can approximate his age and have likely altered his appearance a bit to
compensate. Perhaps one has also altered his social status now that one knows
he's a college graduate.

One’s involvement with this narrative, one’s construction of the story, is in no

way going to alter the outcome of Jacqueline's life. The plot will remain as fixed as

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the words upon the page. But the story one’s creating is uniquely belonging to
this reading of it, and this reading of it only.

Summary
The fabula is defined as the chronological series of events that are
represented or implied in a fiction, while the sjuzet or syuzhet is considered to be
the order, manner and techniques of their presentation in the narrative.

II. Character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art (such as a

novel, play, or film). Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr, it dates
from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom
Jones in 1749. In literature, characters guide readers through their stories, helping
them to understand plots and ponder themes. Since the end of the 18th century,
the phrase "in character" has been used to describe an effective impersonation by
an actor. Since the 19th century, the art of creating characters, as practiced by
actors or writers, has been called characterization.

Types of characters
Major or central characters are vital to the development and resolution of the
conflict. In other words, the plot and resolution of conflict revolves around these
characters.

Minor characters serve to complement the major characters and help move the
plot events forward.

Flat characters are minor characters in a work of fiction that do not undergo
substantial change or growth in the course of a story. a character who reveals
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only one, maybe two, personality traits in a story or novel, and the trait(s) do not
change.

Round Character is a well-developed character that demonstrates varied and

sometimes contradictory traits. The personality of such a character is not
consistent, which makes the character more realistic than others in the piece of
writing.
Static Character is a character that remains primarily the same throughout the
piece of work. Events in the story do not alter a static character’s outlook,
personality, motivation, perception, habits, etc.

Dynamic Character is a character which changes during the course of a story or

novel, usually as a result of resolving a central conflict or facing a major crisis..
Sometimes a dynamic character is called a developing character.
The protagonist is the central person in a story, and is often referred to as the
story's main character. He or she (or they) is often faced with a conflict that must
be resolved. The protagonist may not always be admirable (e.g. an anti-hero);
nevertheless s/he must command involvement on the part of the reader, or
better yet, empathy.

The Antagonist, often termed as the villain of the story, is the character whom
the protagonist must confront and defy for victory. The antagonist however may
not only be a person, it could be a situation that is creating an obstacle in the path
of the protagonist towards her/his final goal.

Confidante is someone in whom the central character confides, thus revealing the
main character’s personality, thoughts, and intentions. The confidante does not
need to be a person.

Foil - a character that is used to enhance another character through contrast.

Cinderella’s grace and beauty as opposed to her nasty, self-centered stepsisters is
one clear illustration of a foil many may recall from childhood.

The Sidekick - The sidekick of a character often has a weaker personality in

comparison to the character her/himself. This is a person who sticks by the
character's side all the time, and usually tends to do as directed by the character.

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Stock Characters - are those types of characters who have become conventional
or stereotypical through repeated use in particular types of stories. Stock
characters are instantly recognizable to readers or audience members.

Although the character types are listed separately, characters may be (and often
are) a combination. A foil, for example, could also be a round, flat, or even a stock
character. While most protagonists in novels are dynamic (change over the course
of the novel) and round, they don’t have to be, especially if the novel is plot
driven as opposed to character driven.

Some character types are, by definition, opposite and cannot be considered. For
example, one cannot have a character that is both flat and round, or a character
that is both static and dynamic.

III. Point of View

The narrator may tell the story from the first-, second-, or third-person
perspectives.

A first-person narrator is character in the story; he or she narrates the

story from "inside" the world of the story. The first person narrator can be a
participant in the events of the story he narrates or he can be “outside” that is, he
can narrate events in which he was not involved.

Ex: Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.

A second-person narrator addresses someone inside the story, someone

who is, in effect, the reader. Second person is the least used form in novels,
mainly because it usually reads more awkwardly. Second person is the “you"
point of view , the imperative ( command form ) . There are few examples:

Ex: Tom Robbin's Half Sleep in Frog Pajamas.

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 A third-person narrator tells us about events which happen to someone
else, someone who is a character in the story.

Ex: Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea.

An omniscient narrator has a god-like perspective on the action of the

story:  he or she sees everything that happens in the fictional world of the story.
He or she can move freely in space or time.  He or she can narrate events which
happen to any of the characters.

A limited-omniscient narrator also sees the action of the story from an

"external" perspective--he or she is not a character in the story but simply a voice
which tells us about the characters

IV. Setting
In fiction, Time, place and circumstance form a critical mass that creates the
particular setting best suited to a story. Setting has been referred to as story
world. Elements of setting may include culture, historical period, geography, and
hour. Along with plot, character, theme, and style, setting is considered one of the
fundamental components of fiction.

Role of setting
Setting is a critical component for assisting the plot, as in man vs. nature or man
vs. society stories. In some stories the setting becomes a character itself. The term
"setting" is often used to refer to the social environment in which the events of a
novel occur. At first the setting was often established as the "place" where the
story occurs. As time advances, the elements of the story setting were expanded
to include the passage of time which might be static in some stories or dynamic in
others (e.g. changing seasons, day-and-night, etc.).

Setting fulfills most of the core aspects of a story. Without a place there is no
story. Setting serves multipurpose roles from helping with plot, determining and
describing character to provide metaphoric links to theme. Without setting,

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 characters are simply there, in a vacuum, with no reason to act and most
importantly, no reason to care.

Time
Considering four kinds of time that may carry particular associations with them:

 Clock time: this can be used to provide suspense or create certain moods or
feelings.
 Calendar time: the day, month, year, or more generally a day of the week
or time of the month may provide an understanding of what takes place in a piece
of literature.
 Seasonal time: the seasons or a span of time associated with a particular
activity may be important.
 Historical time: this can establish a psychological or sociological
understanding of behaviors and attitudes.

Place
One may find significance in the actual location where the action occurs. On the
one hand, the physical environment, including weather conditions, may be
specifically described. On the other hand, the nonphysical environment includes
cultural influences such as education, social standing, economic class, and
religious belief. These may be revealed by physical properties in the scene or
through the characters' dialogue, thoughts, statements, and behaviors.

Circumstance
Circumstance, in particular, modifies the nature of time and place. In each case
the time and place remain the same but the circumstance gives the setting its
unique flavor. Circumstance may be expressed at the character level (e.g., John
just lost his job), environmental level (e.g., the community is getting nervous), or
global level (e.g., the world economy just crashed).
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 Uses of setting
The setting may be nothing more than the backdrop for what occurs; however, it
may be directly linked to mood or meaning.

 It can create an atmosphere that affects our response to the work.

 It may have a direct effect on a character's motivation.
 The setting itself may be an antagonist.
 Two settings may come into conflict with each other, causing conflict in the
characters that must live in them and perhaps have to choose between them.

V. The Author/The Reader

Between the real and the implied

Differentiating between the real author and the implied author, the real reader
and the implied reader, and the implied author and the implied reader, help
perceiving the elements of novel.

The implied author

The real author is the one who writes the text. On the other hand, the implied
author, the real author’s “second self”, is the picture the reader will construct of
the official scribe. It’s reconstructed by the reader from the narrative; he is not
the narrator but the principle that invented the narrator, along with everything
else in the narrative.

The implied author is distinguishable from the narrator in that the implied author
does not recount events or dialogue, but instead is present through ideology. The
implied author works "behind the scenes" shaping the values that the narrative
projects onto his audience.

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The term refers to the character a reader may attribute to an author based on the
way a literary work is written, which may differ considerably from the author's
true personality.

Unlike the narrator, the implied author can tell us nothing. It has no voice, no
direct means of communication. It instructs us silently with all the voices and all
the means it has chosen to let us learn. It fills the gap between the real author
and the narrator.

The implied reader

The real reader is the one with book in hands. On the other hand, the implied
reader is a “structure inscribed in the texts” not having any real existence. It
“embodies all those predispositions (requirements) necessary for a literary work
to exercise its effect. Consequently, the implied reader as a concept has his roots
firmly planted in the structure of the text; he is a construct and in no way to be
identified with any real reader”.

This "implied" reader makes expectations, meanings, and the unstated details of
characters and settings through a "wandering viewpoint".

The implied reader can be seen as an assumed addressee to whom the work is
directed and whose linguistic codes, ideological norms, and aesthetic ideas must
be taken account of if the work is to be understood.

The implied reader can be seen as an image of the ideal recipient who
understands the work in a way that optimally matches its structure.

In short, if the implied author is an image of the real author created by the real
reader, then, the implied reader must be the image of the real reader assumed by
the real author.
GENETTE, GERARD. Narrative Discourse: An Essay In Method. New York. Cornell
Paperbacks, 1983

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