Basic Elements of Narrative

Basic Elements of Narrative outlines a way of thinking about what narrative is and how to identify its basic elements across various media, introducing key concepts developed by previous theorists and contributing original ideas to the growing body of scholarship on stories. Includes an overview of recent developments in narrative scholarship Provides an accessible introduction to key concepts in the field Views narrative as a cognitive structure, type of text, and resource for interpersonal communication Uses examples from literature, face to face interaction, graphic novels, and film to explore the core features of narrative Includes a glossary of key terms, full bibliography, and comprehensive index Appropriate for multiple audiences, including students, non-specialists, and experts in the field

Preface ix Acknowledgments xiv The Elements xvi 1 Getting Started: A Thumbnail Sketch of the Approach 1 Toward a Working Definition of Narrative 1 Profiles of Narrative 7 Narrative: Basic Elements 9 2 Framing the Approach: Some Background and Context 23 Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Narrative and Narrative Theory 23 Major Trends in Recent Scholarship on Narrative 26 3 Back to the Elements: Narrative Occasions 37 Situating Stories 37 Sociolinguistic Approaches 40 Positioning Theory 55 The Narrative Communication Model 63 Conclusion 74 4 Temporality, Particularity, and Narrative: An Excursion into the Theory of Text Types 75 From Contexts of Narration to Narrative as a Type of Text 75 Text Types and Categorization Processes 79 Narrative as a Text-Type Category: Descriptions versus Stories versus Explanations 89 Coda: Text Types, Communicative Competence, and the Role of Stories in Science 100 5 The Third Element; or, How to Build a Storyworld 105 Narratives as Blueprints for Worldmaking 105 Narrative Ways of Worldmaking 108 Narrative Worlds: A Survey of Approaches 118 Configuring Narrative Worlds: The WHAT, WHERE, and WHEN Dimensions of Storyworlds 128 Worlds Disrupted: Narrativity and Noncanonical Events 133 6 The Nexus of Narrative and Mind 137 The Consciousness Factor 137 Consciousness across Narrative Genres 139 Experiencing Minds: What It’s Like, Qualia, Raw Feels 143 Storied Minds: Narrative Foundations of Consciousness? 153 Appendix 161 Literary Narrative: Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” (1927) 161 Narrative Told during Face-to-Face Communication: UFO or the Devil (2002) 166 Excerpted Panels from Ghost World (1997), a Graphic Novel by Daniel Clowes 173 Screenshots from Terry Zwigoff’s Film Version of Ghost World (2001) 178 Glossary 180 Notes 195 References 215 Index 235