Narrative Criticism

Narrative Theory assumes:

1. All text can be treated as if it is narrative.
2. The traditional view of reason does little to aid in understanding fiction or "realistic discourse."
3. All text assumes some narrative form.
4. Humans are essentially storytellers.
5. The paradigmatic mode of human decision-making and communication creates "reasoning."
6. Rationality is determined by our inherent awareness of narrative probability and narrative fidelity.

From: Walter R. Fisher, Human Communication as Narration: Towards a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action, (Columbia, SC: U. South Carolina) 1987.

Narrative implies a story, but it is much more than that. First, the essence of narrative can be found in form, pattern, or structure.

Genre is the paradigmatic category in which a narrative's specific form fits. Plot, then, is the syntagmatic construction of the components of the narrative. The three essential components of narrative form are: Setting, Character, and Plot. Plot exists as a syntagm that we can categorize as follows:

1. Establishment of setting and situation
2. First (rising) action
3. Second action
4. Third (and subsequent) actions
5. Climax
6. Falling action (resolution plus moral)

Another key aspect of the plot syntagm is the notion of conflict. Conflict occurs when one tries to resist or overcome some opposing force. We recognize four generic conflict syntagms:

1. A person and their conscience (man v. self)
2. A person opposing or resisting another person (man v. man)
3. Natural forces v. man (or God/s v. man)
4. Man v. society/culture

The paradigmatic aspect of genres create generic expectation within the audience. Once the genre is recognized, the audience is aware of what is supposed to happen. Fulfilling or flouting those expectations serve to create meaning. A good example of generic expectation is sport. If the Bulls and Pacers stopped in the middle of the fourth quarter to dance, our generic expectations would be flouted, and we would be forced to re-assess the narrative.

The power that narrative exerts over the audience depends upon its subject position (the missing perspective required for the text to make sense). This is who the text encourages you to be. Subject positions imply:

1. subversive stances
2. consciousness (identification with a group).

The narrative critic should look for:

1. Metonymies: the reduction of knowledge into a discrete sign.
2. Teleology: the archaeological development of the sign.
3. Empowerment/Disempowerment : through the portrayal of characters and situations.
4. Judgement: the critic's subjective view of the narrative.

See also:
Walter R. Fisher, Narration as a Human Communication Paradigm. Communication Monographs (51) 1-22.

Ron Brown, Society as Text: Essays on Rhetoric, Reason, and Reality, (Chicago: U. Chicago), 1987.