Essential Components of Literary Narrative Structure

Defining Narrative: Story, History, and Plot

A narrative is the relationship (real or imaginary) between events that occur to characters in a specific place and at a particular time. Every narrative contains a story.

• History: This refers to the series of events that have occurred in reality or in the imagination.
• Story (Plot): This is the expression of these facts—how the history is presented. From history, we can derive many stories or accounts.

Key Elements of Narrative: Author and Narrator

The Author

The author is the writer or real person who creates the account. In literary narratives, the author expresses themselves through the narrator, who is responsible for recounting the facts.

Types of Narrators

The narrator is the voice that tells the story. They are typically categorized by perspective:

Third-Person Narrator

This narrator recounts what happens to others. There are two main types:

• Omniscient Narrator: Knows everything, including penetrating the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
• Absent Narrator (Objective): Only recounts the most visible actions and dialogue, acting like a camera.

First-Person Narrator

This narrator tells what happened to them, often functioning as the protagonist (e.g., in an autobiographical account).

Character Roles and Types

Characters are the beings involved in the events of the story. There are several types:

• Principal Characters: These include the protagonist (the central figure) and the antagonist (the opposing force).
• Secondary Characters: These are less important characters who appear in the work, supporting the main action.
• Multiple Protagonists: A narrative that focuses on the experiences of many people rather than a single main character.
• Stock Characters (Type Characters): These are very well-defined characters who almost always possess the same characteristics (e.g., the villain, the damsel in distress).

Argument and Theme

The argument (or plot) is the set of events that occur to the characters. The theme is the central idea that synthesizes the core message or subject of the narrative.

Setting: Space and Time

Space is the place where the actions being recounted occur. Time is when the events take place. We distinguish two types of time:

• External Time: The historical or chronological period in which the action is located.
• Internal Time: Refers to the duration or length of the action within the story itself.

Narrative Structure

Literary narratives possess a formal structure and a structure of content.

Formal Structure

The formal structure refers to how the text is organized physically:

• A story is composed of parts and chapters.
• In poems, structure is marked by lines and stanzas.

Content Structure (Open vs. Closed)

The structure of the content relates to the completeness of the plot:

• Open Structure (Open Narration): The ending and beginning of the novel do not involve basic facts that define the characters' lives; the story begins and ends at any point in the characters' lives.
• Closed Structure (Closed Narration): The final outcome represents a definite and important change for the characters, such as a death or a major resolution.

Order of Narration

The author can structure the parts of the story in a linear or circular fashion.

Linear Structure

The linear structure typically follows a chronological progression, depending on three main parts:

1. Approach (Exposition): Presents the initial action, characters, and setting.
2. Node (Climax/Rising Action): Where the basic problem is exposed, leading to the greatest tension.
3. Outcome (Resolution): The point where situations are resolved until the end of the narrative.

Circular Structure

Stories can also adopt a circular structure, where the narration progresses through various stages only to return to the beginning.

Narrative Styles

Narratives employ multiple styles for presenting dialogue and thought:

• Direct Style: Reproduces the characters' exact words (verbatim).
• Indirect Style: Reports the characters' words, often dependent on a reporting verb (e.g., "He said that...").
• Free Indirect Style: A mix of direct and indirect styles, where the narrator incorporates the character's voice without explicit quotation marks or reporting verbs.