Tools for Analyzing Prose Fiction
Narratology is a type of formalist criticism that explains and analyzes the structures, modes, and techniques of narrative. See Abrams, "Narrative and Narratology" (123-25), "Plot" (159-63), "Point of View" (165-69).
Narrative: story comprising characters, their dialogue and actions, and the events in which they participate.
Narratives may be related (novels, short stories) or enacted (drama)
Most narratives have a protagonist (one primary character who is the main focus of interest), who may or may not have an antagonist (one main opponent) and/or a foil (one or more figures who highlight the protagonist by their contrast with him/her).
The components of narrative are Story (all the events in the story arranged in chronological order, as they “happened”) and Plot (the structure given to the narrative by the author, the way the story is actually presented to the reader).
Plots may be
Episodic: events are held together mainly by the fact that they happen to the protagonist
Unified: events are carefully organized to create the effect of unity of action, constituting one action with a continuous sequence of beginning, middle, and end. See Freytag’s Triangle.
Polyphonic: main plot is interwoven with one or more subplots that enhance its meaning
Point of View: the way a story is told; the perspectives which are presented to the reader
First-Person Narrative: the narrator refers to him/herself with the pronouns “I” and “me”
Protagonist or Participant/Observer
Self-consciously narrating or Unself-consciously narrating
Reliable or Unreliable/Fallible
Third-Person Narrative: the story is told in the third-person, with pronouns “I” and “me” used only in dialogue
Omniscient: narrator knows everything about all characters, events, etc.; omniscient narrators may also occasionally employ embedded focalizers, characters whose perspectives temporarily control the narrative
Intrusive: narrator comments on and evaluates characters and actions; establishes what counts as facts and values in the narrative
Unintrusive/Impersonal/Objective: narrator “shows rather than tells”; does not explicitly comment on or evaluate the actions
Limited Point of View: narrative is controlled by through the limited perspectives of one main character (or a very few important characters) who does not know everything; such a third- person focalizer is often called a center of consciousness
Varieties of Authorial Voice:
Published Attribution::
Anonymous
Obvious pseudonyms (male, female)
Purportedly real names (male, female)
Authorial Voice or Standpoint:
Ungendered/gender-neutral voices
Obtrusive or Unobtrusive
Universalized or Located/Situated
Gendered voices
Overtly claimed masculine or feminine standpoint
Implied masculine or feminine standpoint
Transparently counterfeit masculine or feminine standpoint