Narrative Genre in Fiction Writing
The Narrator
The narrative genre encompasses all literary works written in prose, primarily recounting fictitious events. The story unfolds through a narrator who presents a fictional world to the ideal reader.
Types of Narrators
- Degree of Knowledge: Absolute knowledge (omniscient) or limited knowledge.
- Degree of Participation:
- Narrator-Protagonist
- Narrator-Character (part of the work but not the main actor, observes from their perspective)
- Narrator-Observer (knows the facts due to presence, but not directly involved)
- Grammatical Person:
- 1st person (I)
- 2nd person (You)
- 3rd person (He/She/It)
Modes of Narration
- Reported Speech: Primarily monological, the narrator alludes to the characters’ words within their own speech.
- Direct Speech: Verbatim reproduction of character dialogue, without narrator intervention.
- Free Indirect Speech: A complex mix of narrator intervention and character speech.
The Fictional World
Characters
Characters carry out the actions. Consider these aspects:
- Background: The world in which the character exists.
- Description: Name, surname, nickname, or anonymity.
- Characterization: Revealed through actions.
- Traits: Physical, psychological, and/or moral.
Events
Events are occurrences, driven by characters or external forces (e.g., a storm). These create conflicts, resolved positively or negatively.
Space-Time
Space is the setting, accompanied by a temporal location.
The Narratee
The ideal reader to whom the narrator addresses the story (e.g., children in fairy tales). The narratee may differ from the actual reader.
Story Structure
Traditional Structure
- Exposition: Introduction of characters, setting, and the temporal/spatial framework.
- Rising Action: The conflict unfolds.
- Resolution: The conflict’s outcome, positive, neutral, or negative.
Contemporary Developments
- In Media Res (In the Middle of Things): The story begins mid-action.
Example: “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude. - In Extrema Res (At the End of Things): The story begins with the outcome, then reconstructs events.
Example: “Suffice it to say that I am Juan Pablo Castel, the painter who killed María Iribarne…” Ernesto Sabato, The Tunnel. - Open Ending: The conflict remains unresolved, extending beyond the narrative’s boundaries.
Contemporary Narrative Resources
- Flashback: Brief evocation of past events.
- Racconto: The story is structured as a memory.
- Montage: Parallel narratives that may intersect.
- Interior Monologue: Character self-analysis without narrator intervention.
- Stream of Consciousness: Unfiltered flow of a character’s thoughts, images, and feelings.