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Bal: Introduction to The Theory of Narrative - Coggle Diagram
Bal: Introduction to The Theory of Narrative
Story: Aspects
Characters
Anthropomorphic figures provided with specifying features the narrator tells us about
Distinctive characteristics together create a character-effect
Character resembles a human being
Human characteristics
They have been allotted, each of them functions in a different way with respect to the reader
Actors
Structural position, while a character is a complex semantic unit
Readers
See characters, feel with them, and like or dislike them
Characters
Differ from one another
They are individual
Give the most pleasure when they are allowed to resist their readers instead of being overruled and forced to conform to readers’ expectations
Round characters
Complex person, who undergo a change in the course of story and remain capable of surprising the reader
Flat characters
Are stable; they are stereotypical, and they exhibit or contain nothing surprising.
Fixating process determination
Historical characters
Often brought to life in novels
More strongly determined than legendary ones
Legendary characters
Expected to exhibit certain stereotypical behaviour and set attributes; if the story were to depart too far from these set characteristics, they would no longer be recognizable
Can be powerful trigger of surprise, suspense, or humour
Referential characters
Strongly determined than entirely fictional characters
Reference to a character by means of a personal pronoun alone limits its gender
Fabula: Elements
Actors
in selection of events and the formation of sequences, actors are important elements
actors
have an intention; they aspire towards an aim
aspiration is the achievement of something pleasant, agreeable, or favourable, or the evasion of something unpleasant, disagreeable or unfavourable
selection
helps first to select which actor must be taken into consideration and which ones need not be
some fabulas there are actors who have no functional part in the structure of the fabula because they do not cause functional events
they contribute to the representation of bourgeois society given in a novel
they serve as an indication of a specific use of space; they guard the boundary between inside and outside and demonstrate that boundary's permeability
structuralists
have constructed a model that represents the relations to the aim
the model starts from a teleological relation between the elements of the story
this model claims universal validity for its operative principle and is not limited to invented fabulas
offers a good opportunity for reflection on the relations between fiction, reality and truth
actants
is a class of actors who share a certain characteristic quality
Space
Sandwiched between the focalization, of which the representation of space constitutes a special case and that of place, a category of fabula elements
Visuality in narrative
Places
Linked to certain points of perception
Seen in relation to their perception constitutes the story’s space
Perception may be character, which is situated in a space, observes it, and reacts to it
Space perceived
Space is connected to characters that live it
Primary aspect of space is the way characters bring their sense to bear on it
three senses are especially involved in perceptual representation of space
sight, hearing and touch
shapes, colours and size are seen visually
sounds contribute to the presentation of space
touch, tactile perceptions
indicates proximity
frame
inner and outer space function
location
events happen somewhere
when location has not been indicated, readers will simply supply one
spatial thinking
important role in fabulas
possible to make a note of the place of each fabula and then to see whether a connection exists between the kind of events, the identity of the actors and the location
subdivision of locations
means to gain insight into the relations between elements
spatial opposition
When several places, ordered in groups, can be related to psychological, and moral oppositions, location may function as an important principle of stucture