TOPIC 32. NARRATIVE TEXTS: STRUCTURE AND MAIN FEATURES 1. INTR INTROD ODUC UCTI TION ON This topic, topic 32 deals with Narrative Texts Texts and its main purpose is to ofer a broad account o the main eatures and structure o this type o texts. In order to do that, a linguistic analysis o this type o texts and its main main char charac acte teri rist stic ics s are are goin going g to be exam examin ined ed.. Ther There e will will also also be a conc conclu lusi sion on in order order to overv overview iew the the pres presen entt stud study y and and its its educ educat atio iona nall implications.
1.1. .1. The The Noti Notio on of Tex Textt Lin Lin!i" !i"tti#" i#": Di"#o i"#o! !$"e $"e An% An%&'" &'"i" %n %n( Text De)nition The analysis o texts and its articulation is drawn rom the notion o Text Text inguistics. !ccording to "eaugrande # $ressler %&'((), the notion o text &in!i"ti#" concerns the study o text as an ob*ect o in+uiry. This notion, also called Di"#o!$"e %n%&'"i" has its origins in the rhetoric studies o the !ncient !ncient reece and the -edieval -edieval !ges. In the ormer, this study was based on the training o orators to deliver messages in public scenarios, but in the latter, it was devoted to the study o grammar and logic. n de/ning text, 0alliday %&'1) establishes that the notion o *text+ rom a linguistic point o view concerns any passage, oral or written, o whatever length that does orm a uni/ed whole4. Thereore, we can say that the de/nition o text is related to narration since it may be a short or long story, narrating a act. In the approach to text linguistics "eaugrande # $ressler %&'(() claimed that a text, oral or written, is established as a comm commun unic icat ativ ive e occu occurr rrenc ence e that that must must meet meet the the Se,en Se,en St%n(% St%n(%$(" $(" o$ Text!%&it' 5 cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, inormativity, situationality and Intertextuality. Intertextuality. I these rules are not met, the text does not achieve its communicative goal or unction. •
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Cohe"ion is a text6centred concept that is highly related to syntax and other elements that are ound on the text surace. 7ohesion is also related to text ties %anaphora, %anaphora, cataphora and ellipsis), ellipsis), signaling relations that are essential in a narrative. essent ntia iall in narr narrat ativ ive e text texts s to ma8 ma8e sens sense e due due to Cohe$en#e is esse organi9 organi9ati ation on becaus because e it consis consists ts o a set o relat relation ions s listed listed under under subordination, coordination and global patterns. transmits its the intention intentions s o the text author authors, s, their their Intention%&it' transm attitude, which mainly concerns the con/guration o a cohesive and coherent text that ul/ls the receiver:s intentions. concerns ns the receiv receiver:s er:s attitu attitude de toward towards s the text. text. A##e-t%i&it' concer Texts Texts should be cohesive, coherent and relevant or the receiver in an appropriate communicative text. Info$/%ti,it' reers to the extent to which what happens in the text appears to be expected, unexpected, 8nown or un8nown by means o content content words li8e verbs, nouns, adverbs or ad*ectives. ad*ectives. ;ome lexical lexical
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elements are essential or dialogic texts such as exclamative and interrogative sentences, deictic pronouns, a
In addition, TEXTUAL FEATURES such as texture and ties give a text the status o =being a text: and contribute to its total unity by means o cohesive relations. >egarding TEXTUALIT0 , we can say that deals with the rules governing written discourse. Narratives are an important part o the set o discourses and they are present in diferent domains.
2. NARRATIVE TEXTS: STRUCTURE AND MAIN FEATURES In this section, I will examine narrative texts more in depth regarding the diferent eatures o narrative texts and their structrure. ! n%$$%ti,e text is describe as a type o discourse whose main communicative purpose is to provide inormation on actions and acts both real and imaginary. Narrative texts answer to the +uestion5 ?hat happened@4 and they represent a recounting o events in distant time and space.
2.1.
M%in Fe%t!$e".
In general, narrative texts tend to have three main elements5 characters, plot and intention. The term CARACTER gives coherence to the story and must undergo transormations. The PLOT reers to a se+uence o event which must be altered so as to change the regular story line. Ainally, the concept o INTENTION provides sense and orientation to the text and it may be explicit. 0owever, LITERAR0 TEXTS have /ve common elements5 narrator, characters, theme, plot and setting.
2.1.1.N%$$%to$ The n%$$%to$ can be described as the voice that tells a story and bears some relation to the action, either as an observer or a participant. 0ence, the narrator guides the reader through the action. >egarding who the narrator is and how much he 8nows about the story, we can say that the narrator may be5 a MAIN CARACTER, a SECONDAR0 CARACTER or an INVENTED NARRATOR. The narrator can be OMNISCIENT, i they 8now all the aspects o the plot, express the characters: eelings and thoughts, and even may anticipate actionsB in contrast, to NONOMNISCIENT narrators who are external observers and are ob*ective. >egarding the POINT OF VIE o the story, that is, the narrator:s relationship with the story, the narration can be in TIRD PERSON SIN4ULAR, FIRST PERSON and, not very oten, SECOND PERSON SIN4ULAR. They can express the internal points o view, driven by the
conscience o a speci/c character, or the external points o view, placed outside the conscience o any character.
2.1.2.Ch%$%#te$" 7haracters are necessary to maintain coherence and consistency in a story. They are de/ned as the people %or animals) that perorm action in narrative texts. The characters, also called NARRATIVE SU56ECTS, must undergo a transormation. They can be divided into MAIN CARACTERS, who participate in the plotB SECONDAR0 CARACTERS, who act as a support or the main characters, and 6UNCTURE CARACTERS. !ccording to their characteri9ation, they can be classi/ed into5 ROUND CARACTERS, individuals around whom the plot is organi9edB and FLAT CARACTERS, who represent stereotypes, conventional attitudes or ideas. 7haracteri9ation may be DIRECT, in which the narrator describes characters physically and emotionally, and INDIRECT, in which all the inormation about characters is drawn rom their actions.
2.1.3.The/e %n( P&ot The TEME is the central idea o the story which can be directly started or through the elements o the story, namely the characters. The PLOT is the se+uence o eventsB how the stories are organi9ed, that may be chronical or reverted. It usually involves a problem or a conCict which is presented in the story. The structure o a narrative piece would contain the ollowing components5 5E4INNIN4, which reers to the initiating eventB MIDDLE, which deals with the series o events or setbac8s %the obstacles when the main character attempts to solve the problem)B and the END, last se+uence in which the author brings the story to a resolution. The main SOLUTIONS or the ending o the story can ta8e place through a TIST ENDIN47 an unexpected turn o events or a FLAS5AC8 , when the story goes bac8 in time to ma8e the reader understand.
2.1.9.Settin: S-%#e %n( Ti/e The SETTIN4 o a story reers to when or where the action ta8es place, that is the time and place. ?ith regard to SPACE, stories con be set in REAL or IMA4INAR0 PLACES and it may have a symbolic meaning. !s ar as time is concerned, the reerence to TI-D provides another subclassi/cation5 hi"to$i#%&7 inte$n%& %n( $h'th/i#. !nother important element is the ATMOSPERE o the storyB the creation o a general efect or eeling throughout the story. The INTENTIONALIT0 o narrative texts needs not to be explicit and it is usually inerred rom the narrative. Its existence motivates the narrator to tell the actsB it is, thereore, its starting point and it is basic or the comprehensiveness o the narrative meaning. ;ome authors have named it
/o$%&;, due to the act that it ma8es the purpose o the narrative explicit and gives sense to the story. 2.2.
St$!#t!$e of the N%$$%ti,e
In order to be able to characteri9e a text as a narrative, the succession o events must be altered by some unexpected event that causes a detour rom the ordinary course o events, otherwise the ordinary process o events would be a description o actions. The STRUCTURE o narrative texts ocuses on the ending o the story. Thereore, actions are constructed according to the plot. There are three types o narrative developments. Airstly, we /nd a &ine%$ (e,e&o-/ent which ollows a chronological order rom the beginning to the end o the story in order to 8now eventually the ending o the story. ;econdly, i the ocus is not on the ending but on the #i$#!/"t%n#e" leading to the ending, events may start at the end o the story and be described, then, in terms o Cashbac8s in order to attract the reader:s attention. Thirdly, i the ocus is on both the einnin %n( the en(in , the telling may start at an intermediate point within the story or events to be described in terms o bac8wards and orwards movements. This techni+ue is to be called IN MEDIAS RES NARRATION.
2.3.
Lite$%$' De,i#e" of N%$$%ti,e Text"
The iterary $evices consist o words which are used to enrich the general understanding o the story. They may be stated indirectly and reCect the author:s diferent purposes, thus to entertain, to inorm, and to enhance the reader:s understanding o characters and events in the story. They use o words produces the mood and tone o the storyB it concerns the intra6 textual relations which are established by lin8ing elements within the text, connected with an extra6textual reerence.
2.3.1.Cohe"ion ! text is cohesive when its elements are lin8ed together. ! text is coherent when it ma8es sense. 7ohesive devices ensure the global coherence o a text. Thereore, cohesion and coherence are interrelated. 7ohesive mar8ers are essential or the understanding o narrative texts, whereas coherence ma8es interpretation by the reader possible, and this coherence is achieved by means o the use o mar8ers and clues, and the previously mentioned ;even ;tandards o Textuality. 7onnectors and other lin8ing devices mar8 the logical relationships between statements. ;uch elements tend to be connected with grammar and vocabulary. ;o, we may /nd >!--!TI7! 70D;IN together with DEI7! 70D;IN.
4$%//%ti#%& Cohe"ion comprises certain elements li8e ellipsis, substitution, con*unction and reerence. The concept o reerence ta8es into consideration the notions o anaphora, cataphora and deixis. The notion o connectors is embedded within the heading o con*unction.
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S!"tit!tion. It reers to the replacement o one item by another to avoid repetitionB usually it tends to be a pronoun or a synonym. Dllipsis, on the contrary, reers to the omission o an item. Aor example, $o you want a beer@ No, I *ust had one4 %substitution). $o you want some mil8@ Fes, I do.4 %ellipsis). Refe$en#e: !ccording to 0alliday and 0assan %&'1), it is reerred to as the case where the inormation to be retrieved is the reerential meaning, the identity o the particular thing or class o things that is being reerred toB and the cohesion lies in the continuity o reerence, whereby the same thing enters into the discourse a second time4. !naphora and 7ataphora, also considered as theme and rheme, respectively, always tend to appear in dialogic texts. n the one hand, the ormer is a word that reers to a word used earlier in a sentence and replaces it, as in Gim too8 my ring. I thin8 he lost it4. n the other hand, the latter reers to the use o a word or phrase that reers to or stands or a later word or phrase. Con
Lexi#%& Cohe"ion deals with connections based on the words used and can be accomplished by repetitions, the use o words rom the same amily and lexical or contextual synonyms. The set o reerence items includes all the speci/c deictics %pronouns and determiners), which provide personal demonstrative or comparative reerence. The most re+uent anaphorical elements or reerence are relative sentences. 2.3.2.4$%-ho&oi#%& De,i#e" ?ith respect to graphological resources, they are visual devices that deal with the structure and orm o diferent types o texts, such as orthography %the ade+uate spelling), punctuation %separation o successive units and the speci/cation o language unction), headings, oot notes, tables o contents and indexes.
2.3.3.Othe$ Lite$%$' De,i#e" !s ar as literary devices are concerned, the stream o consciousness4 and ree indirect style4 are those means by which the narrator reports the thoughts and speech o a character. The ormer is introduced in an immediate manner and the latter is used as a way to report the characters: thought directly.
3. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF NARRATIVE TEXTS !ll in all, the present unit connected with narrative texts becomes particularly interesting to teach the Dnglish sub*ect in ;econdary Dducation. Narrating acts is a basic unction o communication. Thereore, writing,
reading or telling stories enables us to carry out everyday tas8s which prove to be essential in our current society. This is emphasi9ed by the increasing necessity o learning a oreign language. !s language represents a vehicle or culture, it enables students to get an insight o the history, customs and values o society. Thereore, according to the 7DA> %22), narrating is essential or language learners in order to develop the communicative competence and oster their 8nowledge o a oreign language. 7omprehending and producing texts osters interaction and enriches our students grammatical competence.
