Narrative Theory: A Brief Introduction

ChaptePoint of View
Point of View means that the story is told through the eyes and mouth of a certain person; the story can
change considerably, depending on who is telling it.
First person narrator:
·Story is told from the inside; narrator is a participant in the action
·Narrator is often the protagonist or minor character; we see only what he/she sees, in the way that
he/she sees it.
·Advantage: first person narrator has immediacy and a sense of life.
·Disadvantage: the author may be frustrated in that he/she can only include things that the narrator
would be expected to know; also, we are locked within the mind of the narrator.
Third person narrator:
·usually a nameless narrator who can be identified with the author.
·omniscient narrator: godlike narrator; he/she can enter character's minds and know everything that is
going on, past, present, and future.
Advantage: very natural technique; author is, after all, omniscient regarding his work.
Disadvantage: unlifelike; narrator knows and tells all; is truly a convention of literature
·Viewpoint character: third person narration that is limited to the point of view of one character in the
novel; may be a protagonist or a minor character.
·Objective viewpoint: limited narrative, like a drama; narrator can only describe words and actions that
can be seen objectively and cannot get into character's thoughts
Combination of narrative techniques is possible in a novel.
Tense of narration is important; action narrated in the present can be more dramatic than past tense
narration.

completare de la ymar:
The concept of narrative person is not a grammatical one, but refers to whether the narrator is within or
outside the world of the story: the first-person narrator is within, whereas the third-person narrator is
outside the world of the story.

· first person - actional participant (a): the main character tells his own story; eg. Daniel Defoe's Moll
Flanders, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn

· first person - observer ( : the story is told by an observer-participant (who may be a minor
character); eg. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby
· third person - objective (a): the observer is `objective', in the sense that no direct account of what it
thinks or perceives is given; instead of the objective third-person narrator, this type of narrator is
sometimes called, quite simply, the objective narrator; a frequently cited example here is Ernest
Hemingway's short story, ‘Hills Like White Elephants’

· third person - omniscient ( : the omniscient or omniscient third-person narrator can move from
place to place and backwards and forwards in time, and does not merely concentrate on the
consciousness of one character; this type of narrator is usually associated with the novel, and can be
found, among numerous other examples, in novels such as Jane Austen's Emma and Charles Dickens'
Bleak House.

· third person - limited ©: the limited omniscient or limited third-person narrator has some of the
abilities of an omniscient narrator, but limits its focus, in relation to external description and to the
revelation of consciousness, to only one character; this type of narrator is commonly found in the short
story, as there is less room to explore the consciousness of other characters in this genre, but is also
associated with the novels of Henry James. r 7: The Narrator

7.1 Is The Narrator Necessary?

 

The narrator appears to be necessary for all narratives that use language.  However, it can
be argued that it may not be necessary in narratives which are not encoded in language, and
which depend on the visual element. For example, film and drama may not have a narrator, at
least as the term is understood in prose fiction (but see the section below for a counter-argument;
see also sections 23-4 below).  It has also been argued by Chatman (1978: 152) that the narrator
is an optional element of all narratives; he even regards the narrator as not existing in certain
types of narratives which use language, such as written records and soliloquys.

7.2 The Narrator is Not the Author

 

The narrator is not the author. However, we may face a problem with autobiographies, as
the author in an autobiography may very well be equivalent to the narrator.  But even for auto-
biographies, it can be argued that the author usually tries to project himself or herself as
someone quite different from what he or she actually is, in which case the distinction between
the author and narrator remains valid. In autobiographies, the narrator is the author's projection
of himself in the work, and is not always equivalent to the real flesh-and-blood author.

In this regard, the underlying problem may of course not be directly connected with
autobiography itself as a genre, but in the distinction between fiction and non-fiction; while it is
easy to postulate -- with reference to third-person narratives -- a narrator which is merely a
technical device used to tell the story, it is more difficult to postulate such a device for a non-
fictional work, as everything or everyone in such a work must exist within the real world, or at
least must at least have an appeal to existing beings within the real world.

7.3 First- and Third-Person Narrators

 

Traditionally, narrators in prose fiction are classified in terms of two broad divisions: first-
and third-person narrators. 
Narrative person refers to
whether the narrator is within
The terms first- and third-person narrators in narrative
or outside the world of the
analysis should not, strictly speaking, be viewed in relation
story:
to the first- and third-person pronouns in language.  The
The first-person narrator
comparison of such terms in narrative analysis with
is within, whereas the third-
corresponding features in language
person narrator is outside the
may create problems, although it may sometimes be helpful
world of the story.
if one is not too rigid in one's comparison (see section 4
below).

The concept of narrative person is not a grammatical one, but refers to whether the narrator
is within or outside the world of the story: the first-person narrator is within, whereas the third-
person narrator is outside the world of the story.

Strictly speaking, one should use the pronoun ‘it’ for the third-person narrator, as the third-
person narrator is not a personage within the world of the story, unlike the first-person narrator,
in relation to whom ‘he’ or ‘she’ can be used.

7.4 Grammatical and Narrative Persons

 

The lack of correspondence between grammatical and narrative persons may result in the
third-person narrator using the first person pronoun to refer to itself, and (less frequently) the
first-person narrator using the third person pronoun to refer to himself or herself.  The use of the
first-person pronoun by the third-person narrator is in fact quite common; in this regard, we
may mention here that the complete suppression of the narratorial use of "I" is called figural
narration by Stanzel (cited by Martin, 1986: 133).

Due to the lack of correspondence between narrative and pronominal persons, the second-
person narrator is not frequently found, especially when one looks at prose narratives.  The use
of the second person pronoun by the narrator to refer to the other person who is (usually a
hypothetical) character in the story, does not necessarily entail that we have a second person
narrative.  It may still be defined in terms of first-person and third-person narratives, as the
question is really whether the narrator is within or outside the world of the story. Arguably
however, some interactive narratives, where readers or players are involved in the world of the
narrative while still not actually belonging to it, such as in some interactive electronic fiction,
can be described as second-person narratives (for other possibilities, see Fludernik, 1994).

7.5 Narrators: The Traditional Scheme

 

According to one scheme in the traditional approach, there are five main types of narrators:

      first person - actional participant (a): the main character tells his own story; eg. Daniel
Defoe's Moll Flanders, Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn

      first person - observer (b): the story is told by an observer-participant (who may be a
minor character); eg. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby

      third person - objective (a): the observer is `objective', in the sense that no direct
account of what it thinks or perceives is given; instead of the objective third-person narrator,
this type of narrator is sometimes called, quite simply, the objective narrator; a frequently cited
example here is Ernest Hemingway's short story, ‘Hills Like White Elephants’

      third person - omniscient (b): the omniscient or omniscient third-person narrator can
move from place to place and backwards and forwards in time, and does not merely concentrate
on the consciousness of one character; this type of narrator is usually associated with the novel,
and can be found, among numerous other examples, in novels such as Jane Austen's Emma and
Charles Dickens' Bleak House.

      third person - limited (c): the limited omniscient or limited third-person narrator has
some of the abilities of an omniscient narrator, but limits its focus, in relation to external
description and to the revelation of consciousness, to only one character; this type of narrator is
commonly found in the short story, as there is less room to explore the consciousness of other
characters in this genre, but is also associated with the novels of Henry James.

7.6 First-Person Narrators: Distinctive Features

 

There are some distinctive features of first-person narrators, some of which make them
different from those associated with third-person narrators.

One difference from the third-person narrator, is the enhancement in the immediacy and in
the sense of reality of the story when the first-person narrator is used.  Unlike a story told by the
omniscient or limited third-person narrator, there does seem to be less opportunity for the direct
interpretation by the author of the events in the story in a first-person narrative.  This may be
viewed either as an advantage or disadvantage over the two other types of narrative.  One advan-
tage is that this does not allow the author to present his/her ideological perspective too strongly,
thus preventing the story from being too dogmatic.  The ideology presented is that of the
narrator, and not directly the author's.  But the lack of a clear authorial viewpoint in this type of
narrative may make the story lose its sense of coherence or purpose. The first-person narrator
may also face the problem of the character going beyond the sensitivity, knowledge, or the
powers of language which have already been ascribed to him or her by the author.

A first-person narrative, when compared to the third-person narrative, is usually better for
the study of blunted human perceptivity, as the narrator does not know (or is incapable of
knowing) the full import of the events reported, but which the reader has a better knowledge of. 
As such, the first-person narrator usually views himself as good, or at least, as behaving
correctly, and doing the best under the circumstances.  But this is how the first-person narrator
usually likes to picture himself or herself to be, and not what he or she actually is.  The first-
person narrator may be unreliable: in fact s/he usually is, as he or she is supposed to be a human
being (and hence fallible), and not, like the third-person narrator, merely a technical device.

7.7 The Omniscient Narrator

 

An omniscient narrative is the most flexible of all narrative viewpoints, as it has the widest
scope. It is also widely used in the novel. However, this point of view can destroy the illusion of
reality, as no one can go from one place to another, and to read people's minds whenever the
story demands it.

7.8 The Limited Omniscient Narrator

 

The limited omniscient narrator places the focus on a single character, sometimes showing
more knowledge of the character than the character himself or herself.  As noted earlier, this
point of view is commonly found in short stories, for the simple technical reason that there is not
much breadth in the short story to allow the author to explore other consciousnesses. It was also
noted that it was associated with the novels of Henry James

Although figural narration (see section 4) is clearly a feature of the objective third-person
narration, it is is also associated, to some extent, with the limited third-person narrator, as it
generally uses the pronoun ‘I’ to refer to itself less frequently than the omniscient third-person
narrator .

7.9 The Objective Point of View

 

In the objective point of view (or dramatic point of view), the narrator is like a roving
sound camera and reports only what is seen and heard.  It cannot comment, interpret or enter the
characters' minds.  The reader here is like a spectator at a movie.  The objective point of view
forces the reader to make an interpretation of the events of the story, as the author does not
explain or interpret.  As a consequence, the story may lack coherence and becomes as inchoate as
real life itself.

The objective point of view is heavily reliant on external action and dialogue. It may have
the most speed and the most action when compared to the other points-of-view. However, one
consequence of this is that the narrative may become superficial and may lack psychological
depth.  The idea of scene, where story time is equal to discourse time (see chapter 3 section 4 and
chapter 5 section 10), is commonly associated with the objective point of view.

The objective point of view has severe limitations, as no story is purely ‘objective’. The
strife for objectivity may also be pointless, and may result in the story lacking in meaningfulness.
This point of view is also difficult to sustain, and works best, if it works at all, in short stories. In
this regard, it has been noted, in a response to Hemingway's ‘Hills Like White Elephants’, that it
may be ‘great for a short story or play but lousy for a novel’.
  

7.10 Narrative Reliability

 

It has been claimed that the concept of reliability, which  gives rise to the concept of the
unreliable narrator in literary criticism, may be applicable only to the first-person narrator, and
not to the third- person narrator (see Martin 1986 141). This is arguable.  The third-person
narrator of Washington Irving's ‘Rip van Winkle’, for example, is clearly unreliable. However,
even if we disagree with this, or are not entirely sure about it, we can say that as far as the truth
of observation statements is concerned, the omniscient narrator is, in relative terms, usually
more reliable than the first-person.

7.11 Narrative Intrusiveness

 

The idea of the intrusiveness or obtrusiveness of the narrator is usually applied to the third-
person narrator, unless one deals with what can be described as the extradiegetic first-person
narrator (see section 15 below), or with a first-person narrator with supernatural powers. 
However, there is a difference in the degree of intrusiveness between the three types of third-
person narrators: the objective narrator of course, is the least intrusive, while the omniscient
narrator the most.

Intrusiveness is not always negative nor is it always associated with traditional narratives. It
may make the narrative more coherent by linking all the narrative strands together, or it may
serve a comic/ironic function, especially when the narrator reveals certain enigmatic features of a
character at strategic points in a story.  The intrusive narrator can be found, for example, in many
eighteenth-century novels including the novels of Henry Fielding, as well as in more
‘experimental’ novels, such as in The French Lieutenant's Woman by the twentieth-century
author John Fowles. In the words of Margaret Drabble, who uses the intrusive narrator herself in
her novels, ‘the narrator is part of the story and can intervene whenever he or she wants’.

The supposed disadvantages of intrusiveness must be measured against the problems created
when the narrator fails to comment or give a perspective of any kind.  The objective narrator's
almost total lack of intrusiveness for example, must be measured against one of the weaknesses
of objective narration itself: the tendency to leave us with no focus whatsoever, or with no
guidelines at all on how to interpret certain events.  The argument for this lack of focus or inter-
pretive guidelines is that a story will be more ‘subtle’ without them.  But the so-called ‘subtlety’
may be dependent on cultural factors, which means that people who do not belong to the same
culture are incapable of appreciating it.
  

7.12 Suspense and Point of View

 

Suspense may be created by the narrator’s ignorance of certain ‘future’ events in a story or
by the narrator's refusal to reveal these events in advance, even when he/she/it has prior
knowledge of these events.  In both cases, the narrator's inability or refusal to reveal information
prior to its occurrence in narrative discourse is tied to the consideration that a better story can be
told by not revealing too much earlier.

7.13 Point of View and Focalization

 

It has been noted that the English term point of view is ambiguous.  In addition to the
meaning of the term in non-specialised language, it does not, in its more specialised literary
usage, strictly refer only to the narrator's perspective, but also to the perspective of the speaker,
or teller of the story (i.e., that it includes both the elements of seeing and saying).  For these
reasons, some scholars have preferred the term focalization introduced by Genette in relation to
perspective.

Focalization is used instead of perspective because the latter word is more associated with
the viewing of physical objects, whereas such an association is less evident in relation to the
word focalization, which is more easily associated with the focus on non-perceptible entities (e.g.
thoughts).  However, this term can be criticised for the same reason: for example, the use of the
term focal length in photography, which refers to the viewing of the physical and not the
psychological realm.

The subject of focalization (i.e. the one who focalises), is called the focalizer.

In Genette’s terms,

      character-bound focalization is called internal focalization, whereas

      non-character-bound focalization is called external focalization:

Another way to formulate this is to say

      that the focalization of the first-person narrator is internal, whereas

      that of the third-person narrator

       may be internal (in some stretches of an omniscient or limited third person
narrative) or

      external (almost invariably the case in an objective third-person narrative).

Table 7.1: Internal and External Focalization

internal focalization         first-person narrative
        some stretches of ominiscient and limited omniscient
narratives
external focalization          objective third-person narrative
                      some stretches of ominiscient and limited omniscient
narratives

Focalization not only concerns the distinction between internal and external, but is also a
matter of degree. Genette uses the term zero focalisation for the God-like knowledge of the
omniscient third-person narrator. What is seen and known by the omniscient narrator has the
appearance of being completely transparent without the apparent intervention of a focaliser,
whether it be the character or narrator.

7.14 Alternative Terms to First- and Third-Person Narrators:

Bal
 

Some scholars have avoided the traditional terms first-person and third-person narrators.

Bal for example, prefers the terms

      external narrator, for a narrator which never explicitly refers to itself as a character
(instead of third-person narrator) and

      character-bound narrator for a narrator who does (instead of first-person narrator).

Table 7.2: Bal’s Alternative Terms

Conventional Terms Bal's Terms Definitions of Bal's Terms
third-person narrator external narrator a narrator which never explicitly refers to itself as a ch
 first-person narrator character-bound narrator a narrator who explicitly refers to himself or herself as

7.15 Alternative Terms to First- and Third-Person Narrators:

Genette
 

The more famous alternatives to the terms first- and third-person narrators are those of
Genette.

Genette uses the following terms:

        homodiegetic for a story in which the narrator is present in the story he tells, and

        heterodiegetic for a story in which the narrator is absent from it.

Genette also uses the terms

        extradiegetic for a narrative in which the narrator is superior, in the sense of
being at least one level higher than the story itself (the narrative ‘now’ is outside the story),
and hence having a good or virtually omniscient knowledge of the story he tells; and
        intradiegetic for one in which the narrator is at the same level as the story itself
(the narrative ‘now’, although occurring towards the end, is still technically within the world
of the story); the intradiegetic narrator's knowledge is limited, as it is bound to the
knowledge limitations of a particular character.
 
 Table 7.3: Genette’s Narrators
narrator features
homodiegetic a story in which the narrator is present in the story he narrates
heterodiegetic a story in which the narrator is absent from the story he narrates
extradiegetic narrative in which the narrator is superior, in the sense of being at least one level higher than
story world, and hence has a good or virtually complete knowledge of the story he narrates;
intradiegetic narrative in which the narrator is immersed within the same level as that of the story world,
has limited or incomplete knowledge of the story he narrates.

 
7.16 Does Genette Make the Terms First- and Third-Person
Narrators Unnecessary?
 

In spite of Genette's criticism of the terms first- and third-person narratives, and his
introduction of new terms, the more traditional terms do seem to be still operable (at least in the
way they have been defined here), and in fact, they may be able to further refine Genette's
concepts. For example, both the first-person homodiegetic and first-person heterodiegetic
narratives are possible; the same can be said about the terms first-person heterodiegetic and
third-person heterodiegetic.

If a homodiegetic narrative is one in which the narrator is present in the story he tells, a
first-person narrative is also one in which the narrator is present in the world of the story.  There
is a difference here.  A personage who is present in the world of the story (first-person narrator)
can either be present or absent in the story itself (i.e. can either be homodiegetic or hetero-
diegetic).  In other words, if a first-person narrator is not a character in the story and is outside
the story proper, then he or she is a heterodiegetic first-person narrator.  If a first-person
narrator is a character (whether minor or major) within the story, then he or she is a
homodiegetic first-person narrator.  The latter – the homodiegetic first-person narrator – is
more commonly found.  A heterodiegetic first-person narrator may receive information on the
story from a secondary source, but is not actually part of it (unless, of course, there is a sub- or
outer plot in which he is involved, in which case he should be regarded as homodiegetic). 
Alhough a heterodiegetic first-person narrator may be found, a heterodiegetic narrator is more
commonly a third-person narrator.

Table 7.4: Intermingling of First/Third Persons &

Homo-/Heterodiegetic
first-person narrator either homodiegetic or heterodiegetic,
heterodiegetic narrator either first-person or third-person

7.17 Levels of Narration

 

There are several levels or layers of narration. The following illustration will lead us to a
discussion of further terms associated with the narrator:
 

P  

r author

o 

d implied author

u 

c narrator

t 

i character {speaker(s)}

o 

n  
R  

e character {listener(s)}

c 

e narratee

p 

t implied reader

i 

o reader

7.18 The Implied Author

 

The implied author – which is a concept introduced in the first edition of Wayne Booth's
The Rhetoric of Fiction (1961) – is not the same as the ‘real’ author.  The implied author is the
‘author’ presumed by the narrative. As such, he/she/it may not share the views of the real author.
Being a personage presumed by the narrative, the implied author does not actually exist in the
real world, and hence is not a real person like the actual author, but merely a technical device.

It has been claimed that the observation statements made by the implied author are usually
more truthful than those made by the third-person narrator; but one must view this in relative
terms, as even the implied author has been regarded as not completely reliable.  The implied
author should also not be confused with the narrator. To Chatman (1978) for example, certain
literary narratives, like soliloquy and written records – which as we have seen (in section 1
above), do not, to him, have narrators – do have implied authors.

7.19 The Narratee

 

The narratee is the personage the narrator relates the story to. According to Chatman, the
narratee is optional.

In first-person narratives, the narratee is the character the narrator tells the story to. If this
personage is absent, the implied reader may be regarded as the narratee: this is especially
evident when the first-person narrator uses second person pronouns to address the implied
reader.  We may mention here that the implied reader is a term popularised by Wolfgang Iser
(who has in fact written a book with the term as its title).

In third-person narratives, the narratee exists when there is a narrator telling the story to
another imaginary personage; this imaginary personage is, in effect, the narratee.  In this regard,
it can be argued that the narratee can be equated to the implied reader, as the narrator uses
second person pronouns to address him/her.

Toolan (1988) however, has a more restricted definition of narratee: to him, the narratee is
always addressed by an intradiegetic narrator, in the sense that both the narrator and the
personage the narrator speaks to are within the same narrative level.  However, Toolan does not
regard the narratee as belonging to the overall framework of narrative (as illustrated in relation
to the levels of narrative in section 17 above).

7.20 Sympathy between Levels

 `

The various personages listed in section 17 may have a sympathetic relationship with one
another.  There may be a sympathetic bond, for example, between the reader and narrators,
between the narrator and characters, between the implied author and the reader and so on.
Sympathy may also apply to the narrator's view of what happens in the story.
 

7.21 Irony
 

     Irony may arise if there is a discrepancy (as perceived by the real reader) between
 the ‘messages’ sent by the various personages noted in section 17 above
     
 the ‘messages’ received by them, or,
     
 the ‘messages’ sent and received between them.
     

For example, there may be discrepancies, amongst other possibilities, between the
‘messages’ of the implied author and the real author, between those of the implied author and
the narrator, and between those of the real author and the narrator.

Narrative irony may also arise in the discrepancies between the ‘messages’ received by the
real reader and the implied reader, by the real reader and the narratee and so on.  Also, there
may be discrepancies between them.  Irony viewed in these terms has been discussed by
Chatman 1978: 228-237.

7.22  Boris Uspensky’s Approach

 

Boris Uspensky (in his Poetics of Composition, 1973) has a slightly different approach to
point of view, although we can discuss his conceptions in relation to what has been discussed
above. To Uspensky, point of view can be viewed in terms of the phraseological,
spatiotemporal, psychological, and the ideological planes.

In the phraseological plane, it is expressed largely using language in order to present an
     
attitude.
In the spatiotemporal plane, it is the subject's physical and temporal nearness or distance
     
from what is observed that is of concern, or, we should add, the spatial angle, or the subject's
appearance or concealment  from what is observed.  
The psychological plane can be related to first- or third-person narration: of whether the
     
point of view is presented through a character in the narrative (first-person), or through a
 device that does not exist in the world of the story (third-person).
The ideological plane has to do with the assumption of a character's perspective by the
     
narrator.

The four planes are of course inter-related, and may converge or inter-connected patterns
may be seen in them. There is a convergence of the psychological and ideological planes, for
example, in first-person narration.

7.23  Does the Narrator Exist in Drama?

 

It can be argued that the narrator does not exist in drama.  But we can say this only in the
sense of a clear-cut personage telling the story for us, and in fact, even if we take this definition,
there are several instances of overt narrators in drama.  The narrator is also defined (at least in
the traditional Anglo-Saxon approach) in terms of the perspective given to us in relation to a
story (see section 13 above).  Thus the concept of the narrator is not clearly distinguished from
that of point of view.  In this light, it is difficult to dismiss the dramatic narrator (or at least a
related concept) completely.  In this regard, we can see that the objective third-person narrator
in prose fiction, or what is also known as the dramatic third-person narrator, is still regarded (at
least traditionally) as a narrator, and not summarily dismissed.

7.24  How about the Narrator in Film?

 

If we dismiss the narrator from drama, we have to dismiss it from film as well.  But most
scholars believe that some kind of narration is at work in film, even though it is not strictly or
faithfully viewed in terms of first- and third-person narrators. The terms used in film theory in
relation to the narrator are camera-eye narration and voice-over narration (or related terms),
although what complicates matters is that something similar to first- and third-person narration in
written narratives also finds its way into cinematic narrative. (For more discussion, see sections
20-23 and 25 of chapter 11.)

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