Narrative

A narrative (Latin: narratio ) is a form of representation. It refers to the reproduction of an event in oral or written form. Their result, a history in the sense of the English term story is called narration. The act of storytelling is called narrativity. The narrative attribute is also used for the method to convey facts and teachings in the form of stories.

A minimal definition of narrative is: Someone told someone else that something happened. What is essential is the dynamic connection between what is said and how it is told. A narrative can thus be seen from the fact that it is doppelwertig. This can also be formulated in terms of time. Then it comes to the interactive relationship between the time in which the narrative plays, in relation to that time in which the story tells what happened. If there are no interactions between two factors of this kind make out, there is no narrative.

In contrast to the products of a science of history ( the documentation of history) there is in the classification of what is said or written words as " story" within the meaning of story a strong connotation to the term fiction, ie to the suspicion is the narrative, even when the narrator should assert else ( at least partly ) fictional. Accordingly, in the English speaking literature in fiction and non fiction is divided. In particular, representatives of postmodern theory is called into question, stating that the " grand narratives " of historical science the claim to "truth" suffice rather than so-called " small stories " that do not meet often scientific standards. For in a process where the historical event should be taught, find instead a necessary storytelling, where you go from the sources of historical knowledge, it is that the sources already told, it is that a historian to tell after not narrative sources story. It was said that not only the " figurative narrative " (ie the production of literary narratives ), but also the " historical narrative " (ie the production of works with historical scientific claim ) is not without poetic elements imaginable. After Martin Wirth circle the similarity of the two narratives is that they are time- bivalent. He refers to Meir Sternberg: historiography documenting no facts, not what " really happened " but constitutes a discourse that only stressful to document facts. And on the other hand are stories not just a web of free inventions but a discourse that is tasked with, that there was this freedom of inventing. In this contrast, it was not a question of whether the narrative is true or not, but whether the narrative truth value can lay claim to.

Doris Lessing shows in her work, The Gap, like a myth at a particular time in the history of mankind from a certain perspective is retold as speculative true Rolf Dobelli criticized generally the way real issues with the help of " stories" to illustrate.

With stories deal various humanities and social sciences, including linguistics and literary sciences, communication and media studies, and qualitative research. An interdisciplinary field represents represents the narrative theory ( narratology )

The narrative as a genre or genre of literature

Definitions

The term is meant by the narrative genre, the literary genre of the epic as a whole. The concept of " narrative " can thus as a generic term for all narrative genres - are needed, including the narrative in the strict sense - such as novel, short story, anecdote, short story, tale, fairy tale retelling, etc..

The " story" in the strict sense, a private, but not precisely defined literary genre medium length dar. Characteristic for the same is that in a text - the less " nested " usually shorter and above all is as usual a novel and not the strict requirements met a novella - a course of action or development is presented chronologically and consistently from a narrative perspective. In comparison with the action delayed flashbacks, if ever, directly introduced into the action, such as "letter " or as a "reminder ". In the textbook German literary history for secondary schools it says about the genre of the story:

" Gaskets that join in their content of the reality of life and simply and clearly represent a single event, [ are ] stories; with cheerful and funny anecdotes representation. "

Narrative perspectives

There are basically four different narrative perspectives:

Narrative methodology

Telling as speech

In the terminology of John R. Searle telling is a complex speech act, which is composed of contention actions. In contrast to speech acts are speech acts (and thus also the telling ) in written form possible. The Gesamtillokution a narrative text contains the assertion that something had as it was told happened. The described in faktualen narrative text story (in terms of story) and so the story really relate to something outside and above the story Geschehenes. If this is not the case, the story is rated as a lie or as being based on a mistake. This consequence is spared, if a fiction agreement was concluded between author and reader fictional narratives. Occurs in this case a " willful suspension of disbelief ", so that the reader is prepared to accept the unrealistic features of the story.

Narrativity and "story bias"

The publisher of a Bible lexicon think narrativity ( ie transfer of experiences and lessons learned with the help of " stories" ) is a form to open up the human being. It refers to the everyday experience that we lived in stories and tales that a momentum was his own, into the draw to us people in it. So it was not just about the quality of a text, but above all of that narrative is constitutive of our exploration of the world. Because in telling it will possible to promised union 's own experience, to sort and interpret, participate in other worlds and to design alternative worlds.

Rolf Dobelli contrast, assesses the tendency to give all possible situations in the form of stories, as the source of a " thinking error " of the so-called "story bias". A "story bias" before lying down, when a speaker or writer, for example, the temptation could not resist, reflect the fact that the queen of a country had died a few days after the death of her husband, with the words: " The king died, and then the queen died of grief. " the most important incentive to express themselves, lies in the fact that as mediated messages readers or listeners more memorable remained as messages, in which facts would be passed without possible interpretations and ratings. Through the narration of stories going but designed into the narrated reality " sense " "". According Dobelli twist stories and simplify reality. Hence, they also displace everything that does not want to fit in so well. In contrast, positive assessment just built character of Tales of the narrative psychology.