The Novel
When did the novel emerge as a genre?
18th century
Explain the difference between 'story' and 'plot'.
story: chronological sequence of events (without causal relations)
plot: events of a story that are causally and logically linked
What are the three narrative situations according to Stanzel?
authorial narrative situation, first person narrative situation, figural narrative situation
What is the difference between narrator and focalizer according to Genette?
narrator speaks (gives linguistic account of the fictional world), focalizer perceives/experiences (fictional events are represented from this perspective)
What is the difference between discourse time and story time?
discourse time: time required to read/narrate a text
story time: time that passes in the narrated world
Name three subgenres of the novel.
bildungsroman, science fiction novel, historical novel, neo-picaresque novel, thriller ...
How does characterisation in prose fiction differ from that in drama?
prose fiction includes the additional level of narrative transmission
Where is the authorial narrator situated?
outside the world of the characters
Define the term 'fictive reader'.
the instance addressed by an overt narrator, is a textual construct and not the same as the actual reader/addressee
What are the three categories of representation of time?
order, duration, frequency
What is the difference between 'story' and 'discourse'?
story: chronological sequence of narrated events
discourse: how this material is shaped by the narrator
What are events and what function do they have?
smallest segments of the plot sequence, advance the action and change the characters' situation
When is a narration considered unreliable? What are textual signs for this?
when a narrator's account or interpretation causes mistrust in the reader
textual signs: contradictions (such as contrasting versions of same event), discrepancies between narrator's statements and actions, differences in self-characterisation vs. characterisation by other characters, subjective comments, repeated addresses to the reader
What is the camera-eye technique? Which form of focalization applies here?
narrator functions as passive observer, zero-focalization
Define the term 'prolepsis' and explain its function.
'flashforward', used to give information about events that occur later in the chronological sequence
Which features are characteristic of the short story?
depiction of individual events, stylistic brevity, reduction of characters and temporal and spatial frame
What is a 'deus ex machina ending'?
an ending caused through intervention by a previously uninvolved external agency
Identify the narrative situation and focalization in the following paragraph:
"The next thing I remember is, waking up with a feeling as if I had had a frightful nightmare, and seeing before me a terrible red glare, crossed with thick black bars. I heard voices, too, speaking with a hollow sound, and as if muffled by a rush of wind or water: agitation, uncertainty, and an all-predominating sense of terror confused my faculties."
first person narrative situation, internal focalization
Define the term 'psycho-narration'.
mode of representing internal processes of a character through the use of third person and past tense in which the narrator participates actively by using his or her own language
Which category of duration can be assigned to the following paragraph?
"The composure of Julia declined with the day, whose hours had crept heavily along. As the night drew on, her anxiety for the success of Ferdinand's negotiation with Robert increased to a painful degree."
summary
What does 'experientiality' refer to in the context of narrativity?
ability of narrative texts to give expression to human experience through their narrative structure (-> stories are always accounts of experiences)
What do the terms 'kernel' and 'satellite' refer to and what is the difference between them?
refer to two types of events, kernels move the plot forward while satellites merely embellish it
What is the viewing frame and which narrative situation is it related to?
related to the figural narrative situation, cognitive frame of experiencing the narrated events from the perspective of one of the characters
Identify the narrative situation and focalization in the following paragraph:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters."
authorial narrative situation, zero-focalization
What is iterative narration?
an event happens repeatedly but is only narrated once