2 - Narrative structure

Summary

This is the first of three chapters that describe the structure of oral narratives. It opens with William Labov’s definition of narrative, namely his concept of narrative clauses as the core element of any narrative text. Next, different kinds of narratives are outlined, one of which is oral autobiographical narratives. Narratives are differentiated from other text types. Possible media are discussed (language, pictures, enactment), and the difference between fictional and factual narratives considered. Nonparticipant, vicarious, and heterobiographical stories of other people’s experiences are differentiated from autobiographical narratives of the narrator’s personal experiences. Oral and written narratives are compared. Different methods to collect narratives are presented. The global structure of narratives is introduced and exemplified by analyzing three elicited autobiographical narratives. Finally, the limits of the concept of autobiographical narrative are explored by differentiating it from other text types. This will be facilitated by analyzing four more narratives that are situated at the border of the narrative category.