Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Language and literary narratives
- 2 Blending, narrative spaces, and the emergent story
- 3 Stories and their tellers
- 4 Viewpoint
- 5 Referential expressions and narrative spaces
- 6 Fictional minds and embodiment in drama and fiction
- 7 Speech and thought in the narrative
- 8 Stories in the mind
- Notes to the text
- References
- Literary works cited
- Index
3 - Stories and their tellers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Language and literary narratives
- 2 Blending, narrative spaces, and the emergent story
- 3 Stories and their tellers
- 4 Viewpoint
- 5 Referential expressions and narrative spaces
- 6 Fictional minds and embodiment in drama and fiction
- 7 Speech and thought in the narrative
- 8 Stories in the mind
- Notes to the text
- References
- Literary works cited
- Index
Summary
I am the man who comes and goes between the bar and the telephone booth. Or, rather: that man is called “I” and you know nothing else about him
(If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, Italo Calvino)The preceding chapter has outlined the concept of a narrative space as a textually prompted construct used in story construction. Narrative spaces can thus be distinguished through their temporal dimension, a consistent subplot, or the construction of a specific epistemic point of view. I have also explained how narratives achieve coherence through levels of blending leading to an emergent story.
However, reading a work of fiction invariably assumes a text-mediated contact with the constructed fictional subjectivity often referred to as ‘the teller’ or ‘the narrator.’ The concept is textually constructed, which has been stressed repeatedly, primarily in order to avoid simplifications whereby the narrator is identified with the author. At the same time, the illusion is compelling in many narratives, and the reason why the author is so naturally understood to be responsible for the way the story is told has not been answered in sufficient depth. While the ‘death of the author’ (as a viable narrative concept) has been widely publicized, the news may be exaggerated, as some flesh-and-blood authors begin to claim their right to be considered legitimate participants in the narrative exchange.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Language of StoriesA Cognitive Approach, pp. 58 - 86Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011