Understanding Narrative Genre: Types, Structure, and Focalization

Understanding the Narrative Genre

The narrative is the story of a series of events told by a fictitious entity called the narrator. The narrative genre is manifested in two major ways: the short story (with few characters, little description, and a focus on the outcome) and the novel. In the communication process of the narrative, there is a real sender (author) and a dummy issuer (narrator), who creates a fictional world delivered to the recipient.

Historical Narrative Forms

• Epic Poetry: Oral songs that narrate the exploits of warriors or gods.
• Epic: Narrative poems that tell of human actions and characters worthy of being remembered (e.g., La Araucana, The Odyssey).
• Song of Deeds: Medieval literary works that tell the heroic legends of a village (e.g., Song of My Cid).
• Legend: Narration of facts based on oral tradition, some of which are part of actual historical facts.
• Romance: Epic-lyrical manifestation of anonymous origin, with themes from epics and legends.
• Fable: Short story with a didactic purpose, written in prose, featuring personified animal characters. There is a moral at the end of the story.
• Parable: Similar to a fable, it teaches a moral, but the characters are human.

The Role of the Narrator

The narrator is a fictitious entity created by the author to deliver the story. The story's features are conditioned by the perspective or focalization of the narrator.

Focalization Types

1. Zero Focalization: The narrator is objective and omniscient. They know the internal thoughts of the characters and may even offer value judgments. This is the omniscient narrator.
2. Internal Focalization: The narrator tells the story from the perspective of one of the characters, making it subjective. This restricts the degree of knowledge, as the narrator only knows what the character knows. This includes the protagonist narrator, minor character narrator, or witness narrator.
3. External Focalization: The narrator tells only what they see and hear from the outside; they have no access to the consciousness of the characters. This is the objective narrator or relative knowledge narrator.

Types of Narrators

Character Narrators (Homodiegetic): The narrator is part of the action, and their degree of knowledge of the facts is biased. This type includes:

• Protagonist Narrator: Plays the lead role in the story.
• Witness Narrator: Tells the story of another and provides commentary.