Marie-Laure Ryan

Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory

actant action theory adaptation address addresser and addressee adolescent narrative advertisements African narrative agency allegory alteration alterity anachrony analepsis ancient theories of narrative (Western) ancient theories of narrative (non-Western) anecdote animated film annals anti-narrative apology archetypal patterns architext Artificial Intelligence and narrative atomic and molecular narratives attributive discourse audience Australian Aboriginal narrative authentication author authorial narrative situation autobiography autodiegetic narration autofiction backstory ballad Biblical narrative Bildungsroman biography biological foundations of narrative blog (weblog) catachresis catharsis causality character Chicago school childrens stories (narratives written for children) childrens storytelling Chinese narrative chronicle chronotope cineroman closure codes for reading cognitive narratology coincidence comics and graphic novel coming-out story commentary communication in narrative communication studies and narrative composite novel computational approaches to narrative computer games and narrative concretisation confessional narrative conflict Constance school contextualism (in historiography) conversational storytelling counterfactual history courtroom narrative cultural-studies approaches to narrative cyberpunk fiction dance and narrative deconstructive approaches to narrative defamiliarisation deixis denarration description desire detective fiction dialogism dialogue in the novel diary didactic narrative diegesis digital narrative discourse analysis (Foucault) discourse analysis (linguistics) disnarrated, the distance drama and narrative dramatic irony dramatic monologue dramatic situations dream narrative dual-voice hypothesis dystopian fiction eco-narratives ecriture feminine education and narrative ekphrasis embedding emic and etic emotion and narrative emplotment encyclopedic novel epic epiphany episode epistolary novel ergodic literature ethical turn ethnographic approaches to narrative events and event-types evolution of narrative forms existent experiencing-I experientiality exposition extradiegetic narrator fable fabula fairy tale family chronicle fantastic, the fantasy feminist narratology fiction, theories of Figura (Auerbach) figural narration film narrative first-person narration focalization folklore folktale foregrounding formalism frame theory framed narrative free indirect discourse frequency Freytags triangle function (Jakobson) function (Propp) gapping gaze gender studies genealogy genre fiction genre theory in film studies genre theory in narrative studies gesture gossip Gothic novel grand recit graphic presentation as expressive device hagiography hermeneutics hero heterodiegetic narration heteroglossia historical novel historical present historicis historiographic metafiction historiographic narratology historiography Holocaust narrative homodiegetic narration horizon of expectations horror narrative humour studies and narrative hybrid genres hybridity hypertext hypertext and hypotext (Genette) hypodiegetic narrative identity and narrative ideology and narrative image and narrative immersion implied author implied reader in medias res indeterminacy institutional narrative intentionality interactive fiction interactivity interdisciplinary approaches to narrative interior monologue intermediality intertextuality intradiegetic narrator irony isotopy Japanese narrative joke journalism law and narrative legal fiction legend leitmotif letters as narrative life story linguistic approaches to narrative logic of narrative magical realism Marxist approaches to narrative master narrative media and narrative mediacy medicine and narrative medieval narrative memory mental mapping of narrative metafiction metahistory metalepsis metanarrative comment metaphor metonymy micro-storie mimesis mindscreen mind-style minimal narrative mise en abyme modality mode modernist narrative molecular narratives montage mood (Genette) motif multi-path narrative multi-plot narrative music and narrative myth: thematic approaches myth: theoretical approaches mytheme naming in narrative narratee narrating (Genette) narrating-I narration narrative narrative as argument narrative as cognitive instrument narrative comprehension narrative disorders narrative dynamics narrative explanation narrative in poetry narrative intelligence narrative levels narrative progression narrative psychology narrative semantics narrative situations narrative speed narrative structure narrative techniques narrative therapy narrative transformation narrative transmission narrative turn in the humanities narrative units narrative universals narrative versions narrative, games, and play narrativisation narrativity narrator Native American narrative natural narratology naturalisation Neo-Aristotelianism no-narrator theory nonfiction novel nouveau roman novel, the novella nursery rhyme obituary opera oral cultures and narrative oral history oral-formulaic theory orality organisations and narrative Oulipo palimpsest panfictionality parable paralepsis and paralipsis paratext parody participatory narrative pastiche performance performativity person perspective phenomenology of narrative philosophy and narrative philosophical novel photographs picaresque novel pictorial narrativity plot plot types point point of attack point of view (cinematic) point of view (literary) polyphony pornographic narrative positioning possible-worlds theory postclassical narratology post-colonialism and narrative postmodern narrative postmodern rewrites poststructuralist approaches to narrative pragmatics prison narrative prolepsis prospective narration psychoanalysis and narrative psychological approaches to narrative psychological novel psychonarration queer theory Quixotic novel quotation theory radio narrative reader address reader constructs readerly text, writerly text (Barthes) reader-response theory realeme realism, theories of realist novel reality effect reception theory reference reflector reflexivity reliability remediation repurposing retardatory devices retrospective narration rhetorical approaches to narrative riddle ring-composition roman a clef roman a these romance romance novel Russian Formalism Sanskrit narrative satiric narrative scene (cinematic) schemata science and narrative science fiction screenplay scripts and schemata secondary orality second-person narration semiotics serial form sermon short story shot showing versus telling simple forms simulation and narrative simultaneous narration situation model sjuzhet skaz slash fiction slave narrative soap opera sociolinguistic approaches to narrative sociological approaches to literary narrative sociology and narrative soundtrack space in narrative spatial form spectacle speech act theory speech representation sports broadcast story arc story grammars story schemata and causal structure story-discourse distinction storyworld stream of consciousness and interior monologue structuralist narratology summary and scene surfiction surrealist narrative suspense and surprise syllepsis tabloid narrative tall tale Tel Aviv School of narrative poetics Tel Quel television tellability temporal ordering tense and narrative testimonio text text-world approach to narrative thematic approaches to narrative thematisation theology and narrative third-person narration thought and consciousness representation (film) thought and consciousness representation (literature) thriller time in narrative transfictionality transfocalization and transvocalization transgressive fictions trauma theory travel narrative trebling/triplication truth unnarratable, the unreliable narration urban legend utopian and dystopian fiction verisimilitude virtuality visual narrativity visualisation voice voice-over narration writerly text

Fiction, non-factuals, and the principle of minimal departure☆

Abstract Fiction is commonly viewed as imaginative discourse, or as discourse concerning an alternate possible world. The problem with such definitions is that they cannot distinguish fiction from counterfactual statements, or from the reports of dreams, wishes and fantasies which occur in the context of natural discourse. This paper attempts to capture the difference, as well as the similarities, between fiction and other language uses involving statements about non-existing worlds by comparing their respective behavior in the light of an interpretive principle which will be referred to as the “principle of minimal departure”. This principle states that whenever we interpret a message concerning an alternate world, we reconstrue this world as being the closest possible to the reality we know. In the non-factuals of natural discourse the referents of the pronouns I and you are reconstrued as retaining the personality of the actual speaker as fully as possible, but in fiction they are immune to the principle of minimal departure.

From Parallel Universes to Possible Worlds: Ontological Pluralism in Physics, Narratology, and Narrative

This essay explores how theoretical physics, narratology, and narrative itself deal with the idea that reality consists of a plurality of worlds. In physics, the existence of parallel universes has been postulated on the cosmic level to describe what lies on the other side of black holes and, on the level of subatomic particles, to avoid the paradoxes of quantum mechanics. In narratology, the philosophical idea of a plurality of possible worlds and the contrast between the actual and the possible provide a model of the cognitive pattern into which readers organize information in order to interpret it as a story. But the many-worlds interpretation of physics and the possible worlds (PW) model of narrative differ in their conception of the ontological status of the multiple worlds: in physics they are all actual, while narrative theory stresses the contrast between actuality and mere possibility. This does not mean that the PWmodel is incompatible with the many-worlds cosmology proposed by physics: faced with a narrative that presents multiple realities as existing objectively, the theory would simply claim that the actual domain is made up of a number of different worlds and that the distinction actual/nonactual repeats itself within each of these parts. The last section of the essay explores what it takes for a narrative to impose a many-worlds cosmology, distinguishing these narratives from other texts that present contradictory versions of facts and situating them with respect to three types of story common in fantasy and science fiction: the narrative of transworld exploration, the narrative of alternate history, and the time-travel narrative. My thanks go to the anonymous readers of Poetics Today, whose comments have been a precious help in revising this essay, especially the part devoted to physics. I take responsibility for whatever errors the text may still contain. Poetics Today 27:4 (Winter 2006) doi 10.1215/03335372-2006-006

Beyond Myth and Metaphor: Narrative in Digital Media

The concept of narrative has been widely invoked by theorists of digital textuality, but the promotion of what is described as the storytelling power of the computer has often relied on shallow metaphors, loose conceptions of narrative, and literary models that ignore the distinctive properties of the digital medium. Two myths have dominated this theorization. The myth of the Aleph (as I call it) presents the digital text as a finite text that contains an infinite number of stories. The myth of the Holodeck envisions digital narrative as a virtual environment in which the user becomes a character in a plot similar to those of Victorian novels or Shakespearean tragedies. Both of these myths rely on questionable assumptions: that any permutation of a collection of lexias results in a coherent story; that it is aesthetically desirable to be the hero of a story; and that digital narrativity should cover the same range of emotional experiences as literary narrative. Here I argue that digital narrative should emancipate itself from literary models. But I also view narrative as a universal structure that transcends media. This article addresses the question of reconciling the inherent linearity of narrative structures with the multiple paths made possible by the interactive nature of the digital text by distinguishing four forms of interactivity, which result from the cross-classification of two binaries: internal versus external interactivity; and exploratory versus ontological. Each of these categories is shown to favor different narrative themes and different variations of the universal narrative structure.

Interactive Narrative, Plot Types, and Interpersonal Relations

The design of an interactive narrative begins with the choice of a type of story. In this paper I examine the potential of three kinds of plot for active user participation: the epic plot, which focuses on the struggle of the individual to survive in a hostile world, the dramatic plot, which deals with the evolution of a network of human relations, and the epistemic plot, which is propelled by the desire to solve a mystery. I distinguish two basic types of immersion--ludic and narrative, the latter subdivided into spatial, temporal and emotional variants, and I discuss the ability of the three kinds of plot to generate these various forms of immersion.

The pragmatics of personal and impersonal fiction

Abstract A much debated question among literacy critics is whether the concept of narrator is equally applicable when the narrator presents some degree of individuation, and when he remains totally anonymous (as in the classical “omniscient narration” of the XIXth century novel). A positive answer to this question is compatible with a definition of fiction as an act of impersonation by which the actual speaker, or author, delegates the responsibility for the speech acts he is accomplishing to a substitute speaker. A negative answer would restrict this model to the case of personal narration and prevent it from offering a unified account of fictional expression. Several possible approaches to the problem of impersonal narration are examined in this paper. It is argued that proposals regarding the impersonal narrator as a normal but unknown human being fail on pragmatic grounds, while proposals denying the existence of a speaker in impersonal narration fail on logical grounds. The paper defends the thesis that the concept of narrator is logically necessary of all fictions, but has no psychological foundation in the impersonal case. This relieves the reader from the task of finding a definite answer to the question “who speaks”. The presence or absence of a psychological foundation in a fictional narrator is shown to have important consequences for the strategies through which the reader reconstrues the fictional world, evaluates the language of the text, and extracts the implied message of the author for the actual world.

Toward a competence theory of genre

Abstract Rule relating to or constituting generic categories have often been considered to belong to a second order semiotic system, based upon the linguistic code. This paper argues that the knowledge of such rules should be viewed as a part of the speakers linguistic competence. Evidence for the necessity of including generic rules and considering the notion of genre in an integrated linguistic theory is provided by the following observations: (1) Grammars of natural languages comprise rules of both general and non-general applicability. If they extend to the textual level, they will necessarily present rules functioning in the derivation of some texts but not of others. These textual rules of limited applicability divide the set of all texts into distinct categories, and form the basis of a genre theory. (2) Even within the framework of a sentence grammar, reference to generic categories must be made in order to state the conditions of use of certain operations. For instance, the article deletion obtaining in place chicken in oven is allowed in recipes, but forbidden in laws or in essays. On the basis of this evidence, the paper surveys the various types of rules necessary in a genre theory, examines the problems of their formulation in the framework of a semantically based transformational text grammar, and offers a discussion of their hermeneutic function.

Previously On: Prime Time Serials and the Mechanics of Memory

In recent years, American television has embraced a model of narrative complexity that has proven to be both artistically innovative and fi nancially lucrative. Dozens of series across genres, from comedies like Seinfeld and Arrested Development to dramas like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 24, have explored serialized forms and non-conventional storytelling strategies such as intertwined fl ashbacks and shifting narrative perspectives that had previously been quite rare within mainstream American television. Serialized television has emerged as a vibrant artistic form that many critics suggest rivals previous models of long-form narrative, such as 19th century novels. Television’s poetics of narrative complexity are wide ranging. Series embrace a balance between episodic and serial form, allowing for partial closure within episodes while maintaining broad narrative arcs across episodes and even seasons. Such programs also embrace more elaborate storytelling techniques, such as temporal play, shifting perspectives and focalization, repetition, and overt experimentation with genre and narrative norms. Many contemporary programs are more refl exive in their narration, embracing an operational aesthetic, encouraging viewers to pay attention to the level of narrative discourse as well as the storyworld. In all of these instances, narratively complex television programs both demand that viewers pay attention more closely than typical for the medium, and allow for viewers to experience more confusion in their process of narrative comprehension. In short, television has become more diffi cult to understand, requiring viewers to engage more fully as attentive viewers (see Mittell 2006). In this essay, I want to explore how complex serials strategically trigger, confound, and play with viewers’ memories, considering how television storytelling strategies fi t with our understanding of the cognitive mechanics of memory and highlighting the poetic techniques that programs use to engage viewers and enable long-term comprehension. The television medium employs specifi c strategies distinct from other narrative

Narrative/Science Entanglements: On the Thousand and One Literary Lives of Schrödinger's Cat

Science has a notorious history of using animals for its experiments. The two most famous of these unfortunate creatures are a canine and a feline, Pavlovs dog and Schrodingers cat. Pavlovs dog shows all the features of a well-trained, obedient dog: he drools predictably when he hears the sound of a bell. Schrodingers cat, by contrast, behaves with the whimsy that should be expected from a self-respecting feline: nobody knows whether he is dead or alive, or maybe even both at the same time, in the box where he has been locked up together with a contraption that has a fifty percent chance of killing him. Another difference between Pavlovs dog and Schrodingers cat is that the dog really existed, while Schrodingers cat inhabits a purely imaginary world. The whole scheme is a thought experiment designed by Erwin Schrodinger to explore what his equation actually means for the nature of reality. Fortunately, no real cat has ever lost one of its lives to what would be otherwise an extreme case of animal abuse.

The heuristics of automatic story generation

Abstract The intelligence of a story-generating program can be assessed in terms of creativity, aesthetic awareness, and understanding. The following approaches are evaluated with respect to these three criteria: simple transition networks, grammar-driven models, simulation, algorithms based on problem-solving techniques, and algorithms driven by so-called ‘authorial goals’. The most serious deficiency of the discussed programs is shown to reside in the domain of aesthetic awareness. It is argued that in order to improve on this situation, story-generation should not follow a strictly linear, chronological order, but rather proceed from the middle outwards, starting with the episodes which bear the focus of interest. The program should select as top-level goal the creation of climactic situations, create the preparatory events through backward logic, and take the story to the next highlight, or to an appropriate conclusion through a guided simulation. This strategy is exemplified in a proposed line of reasoning for the generation of Little Red Riding Hood .