Till Next Time

Since its first publication in English in 1985, Mieke Bal's __Narratology__ has become an international classic and the comprehensive introduction to the theory of narrative texts, both literary and non-literary. Providing insights into how readers interpret narrative text, the fourth edition of __Narratology__ is a guide for students and scholars seeking to analyze narratives of any language, period, and region with clear, systematic and reliable concepts. With the addition of in-depth analysis of literary nuances and methods, award-wining cultural theorist Mieke Bal continues to present narrative concepts with clarity. Bal uses a systematic framework to better explain how narratives function, are formed, and eventually interpreted by the reader, while presenting a comprehensive study of the surface perception of language, the perceived narrative world, point of view, and characterization. Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, 4th Edition 4 Contents 6 Preface to the First Edition 8 Preface to the Second Edition 12 Preface to the Third Edition 16 Preface to the Fourth Edition 20 Introduction 26 1 Text: Signs 34 1: Preliminary Remarks 34 2: The Narrator 35 Forms of Narration: “I” and “He” Are Both “I” 35 The Point of this Distinction 37 All Kinds of “I”s 39 Second-Person Narrators? 44 3: Non-Narrative Comments 46 4: Description 49 Delimitation 49 Motivation 50 A Rhetoric of Description 52 “Descriptology” in Practice 54 5: Levels of Narration 59 Analysing Levels of Narration as a Tool for Literary History 62 Intermediate Forms: Indirect Speech and Free Indirect Speech 67 Disentangling Interference 72 Relations between Primary and Embedded Texts 74 Embedded Narrative Texts 75 Relations between Primary Fabula and Embedded Text 75 An Indication to the Reader 80 An Indication to the Actor 81 Non-Narrative Embedded Texts 82 Remarks and Sources 83 2 Story: Aspects 88 1: Preliminary Remarks 88 2: Temporality 89 3: Sequential Ordering 90 Direction 94 Nuances of Anachrony 97 Distance 99 Functions 100 Span 102 Anticipations 105 Achrony 108 4: Rhythm 112 Background 112 Overall Rhythm 112 Ellipsis 114 Summary 115 Scene 116 Slow-Down 117 Pause 118 5: Frequency 123 Heterochrony 126 6: Characters 127 Why Characters Resist Us 128 Predictability 131 Construction of Content 136 Filling In, Fleshing Out 137 Information 140 7: Space 147 Space Perceived 148 Content and Function 149 Relations to Other Aspects 153 Information 154 8: Focalization 155 Background 155 The Focalizer 156 The Focalized Object 160 Levels of Focalization 164 Suspense 171 Remarks and Sources 173 3 Fabula: Elements 177 1: Preliminary Remarks 177 2: Events 178 Selection 178 Change 178 Choice 179 Confrontation 180 Relationships 182 The Narrative Cycle 183 Other Principles of Structure 187 3: Actors 188 Selection 188 Classes of Actors 189 Subject and Object 190 Power and Receiver 191 Helper and Opponent 193 Further Specification 195 Doubling 195 Competence 196 Truth Value 197 Other Divisions into Classes 199 4: Time 200 Duration 200 Chronology: Interruption and Parallelism 203 Logical Sequence 204 5: Location 205 Remarks and Sources 208 Bibliography 212 Index of Names and Titles 218 Index of Concepts 224 "Since its first publication in English in 1985, Mieke Bal's 'Narratology' has become the international classic introduction to the theory of narrative texts. 'Narratology' is a systematic account of narrative techniques and methods, and their transmission and reception, in which Bal distills years of study of the ways in which we understand literary works. In this fourth edition, Bal updates the book to include a greater focus on literary narratives while also sharpening and tightening her language to make it the most readable and student-friendly edition to date. With changes prompted by ten years of feedback from scholars and teachers, 'Narratology' remains the most important contribution to the study of the way narratives work, are formed, and are received."--Introductory preamble Providing insights into how readers interpret narrative texts, Narratology: Introduction to the Theory on Narrative, Fourth Edition, is a guide for students and scholars seeking to analyze narratives of any language, period, and region with clear, systematic, and reliable concepts. "Already a seminal work and international classic, Narratology is revised and updated in this fourth edition to include a greater emphasis on literary texts"--Back of book