Forms Of Narrative Theory

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Narrative theory relies on the notion of different narrative compositions. It is the determinant factor for the process of narration. In other words, narration occurs because of narrative modes. So, narrative modes and narration are the two sides of the same coin in representing narrative. Narrative subsumes many forms of literary genre. It includes: fictions, ancient epics and romance or modern novels and short stories. Abram (1999:173) states that narrative is found both in prose and verse: “a narrative is a story whether told in prose or verse, involving story events, characters, and what the characters say and do. Some literary forms such as novel, short story in prose, and the epic and romance in verse are explicitly narratives that are…show more content…
In fiction both the representation of speech and thought is the same except their differences in meaning and effect (Leech and Short, 1981:319). As Jahn (2005:N8.) States, “every narrative text is a concatenation and alternation of narrator’s discourse and character’s discourse”. Thus, narrative modes can be studied both in narratology (the study of narrative) and stylistics (the study and interpretation of a text from a linguistic perspective). Narrative modes have different types of modes which are used for examining novels and short stories, which would interest both critics and teachers of literature. It provides new way of analyzing narrative. So, studying narrative modes gives a tool box to differentiate one mode from another. Hence, I believe that through critical study of narrative modes, any reader or critic of prose narrative can analyze and examine how a narrative is…show more content…
Especially, narrative modes in the short stories are unstudied area in our country, Ethiopia. However, it can be a window of opportunity for narrative work analysts to look through any literary narrative discourse. On top of this, as narrative modes have strong connection with other narratological and stylistic concepts, they would provide powerful strategy and confidence to work with literary products. Hence, I believe this critical study is interesting and rewarding as it touches both narratology and stylistics. When I confronted with these independent courses, I faced difficulty. Nevertheless, I am interested to study narrative modes, and it definitely acquainted me with literary or language interpretative skill which is essential to deal with narratives. The above mentioned issues are the reasons behind that initiated me to study narrative modes in prose narratives of the short
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