Narrative Speech: Types, Features, and Styles

Narrative Speech: Key Elements

Narrative speech is a form of discourse in which an issuer (narrator) tells about events related to characters, which occur in a temporal process and a determined space.

Linguistic Features

• Abundance of verbal forms.
• Abundance of temporal subordinate clauses.
• In connection with the syntax, we must bear in mind that the more compound sentences and complex syntactic constructions there are, the more it will slow down the narrative. The author plays with this to get the narrative effect that they are pursuing.

Specifications

Point of View

The point of view is the combination of the grammatical person from which the story is told and the attitude of the narrator with respect to the facts.

The main variations that can be found are the following:

1. Third-Person Narrator

The narrator is outside the fictional world, moving the characters. We distinguish the following basic types of third-person narrators:

• Omniscient narrator: They know everything about their characters, and this allows them to enter judgments and personal opinions about what they are recounting.
• Objective narrator: They merely state the facts without comment or opinion. In the most extreme cases, they do not even have access to the thoughts of the characters but merely transmit their words and actions.
• Witness narrator: They see the facts through the eyes of the characters and therefore have the same knowledge as them.

2. First-Person Narrator

In this case, the narrator is included in the recorded facts.

• Narrator as a character: In this case, the paper presents an apparently autobiographical format (e.g., Lazarillo de Tormes).
• Narrator as a chronicler: The narrator is a mere witness to the facts.

3. Second-Person Narrator

This is very rare, in fact, it is a novel, contemporary finding. An example is Five Hours with Mario.

The Plot

When organizing events that the narrator will recount, they may choose between two possibilities:

1. Follow the natural order (ordo naturalis) of events: beginning, middle, and end.
2. Establish a sequence itself (ordo artificialis), beginning to tell the story at any point other than the beginning (in medias res). If you choose this plot structure, it is necessary to use temporary jumps, with several intentions: to reproduce the vagaries of memory of a character, to intrigue the reader, etc.

Ellipses

This economy contributes to the story, gives it a fast pace, and also promotes the reader's imaginative participation.

Narrative Styles

• Indirect style: It is as if the narrator is relaying versions told by the characters.
• Direct style: The narrator stops talking and, through dialogue, gives voice to the characters.
• Free indirect style: The speech of the narrator merges with that of the characters. The introductory verb of speech or thought is removed, and the verbs are put in the past tense and indirect style.
• The interior monologue: A technique of the contemporary novel itself. This realistically reproduces a character's thoughts and stream of consciousness, for it breaks the logical sequence of syntax and allows for arbitrary associations of ideas, etc.