What is a narrative?

Abott writes that, “simply put, narrative is the representation of an event or a series of events” (Abott, 13). Narratives are writings that are presented in mythology, legend, tales, short stories, history, tragedy, drama, comedy, pantomime, paintings, stained-glass windows, movies, local news, and conversation (Barthes, 237). They are fiction and nonfiction yet humans are intrigued by stories that are factually true, because factual truth sells. These forms of narrative are used all over the world and in every day life to communicate with one another and to learn in a school setting. They relay information and knowledge of history and narrator’s imaginations. Among the forms of narrative, there are also functions of them: the determination of units, classes of units, and functional syntax (Barthes, 244, 246, 251).

The determination of units brings the question, “is everything functional in a narrative?”, to mind. Yet, the fact is that a narrative is structurally created and the units that one identifies when looking into it are segments of discourse (Barthes, 244). Some units of narrative correlate with units on a level of meaning. The units within a narrative piece are distributed into a small number of formal classes with consideration of content. Barthes also writes that, ”classes of units are broken down into two main classes, functions and indices, which account for a certain classification of narratives” (Barthes, 246). Tales are an example of functional narratives and psychological novels are an example of indicial. Within these classes there are more classes that a narrative can be broken down and identified as. Syntax is the grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence or literary work (dictionary.com). Functional syntax in narratives links together the different units, the grammar within the stories and history.

The concept of narrative writing—or objects in some cases—is a global one that people use every day without even realizing. Students are taught through narrative constantly, and people are always reading what narrator’s write.

Barthes, Roland: An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative, New Literary History, Vol. 6, No. 2, On Narrative and Narratives (Winter, 1975), pp. 237-272.

Abbott, H. Porter: The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

"Syntax." Dictionary.com. Unabridged. Web. 13 Jan. 2011. .