A narrative is an account of events or experiences that is being told as a story from a particular point of view. Some important features included in a narrative are; events organized chronologically, first or third person forms are generally used, and the story is oriented around a specific agent or agents. Narratives are found in a number of writing categories, such as folk stories, historical events, mythology, and personal experiences.[1]
The listener or reader plays a vital role in a narrative, and they are just as important as the story teller. Since both a story teller and a listener are needed, narratives relate to communication. The narrative, viewed as object, is the basis of a communication: there is a giver of narrative and a recipient of narrative. In linguistic communication, I and you are presupposed by each other; similarly, a narrative cannot take place without a narrator and a listener (or reader).[2] Abbot discusses how every narrative contains an action. However, he criticizes some definitions of narrative by claiming that the events in a narrative do not necessarily have to be in chronological order.[3]
[1] Loos, Eugene. "What Is a Narrative Discourse?" Sil.org. Web. 13 Jan. 2011.
[2] Barthes, R., & Duisit, L. (Winter, 1975). An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative. New Literary History.
[3] Abbott, H. Porter: The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
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