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A computational theory of perspective and reference in narrative

Published 1 January 1988Open access
Janyce Wiebe, William J. Rapaport
Citations37
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TL;DR

A discourse process that recognizes characters' thoughts and perceptions in third-person narrative and an algorithm that uses the results of the discourse process to understand references with respect to an appropriate set of beliefs is presented.

Abstract

Narrative passages told from a character's perspective convey the character's thoughts and perceptions. We present a discourse process that recognizes characters' thoughts and perceptions in third-person narrative. An effect of perspective on reference in narrative is addressed: references in passages told from the perspective of a character reflect the character's beliefs. An algorithm that uses the results of our discourse process to understand references with respect to an appropriate set of beliefs is presented.

Keywords

Computer Science