An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative

Abstract

TK23 ("C o m m u n ic a tio n s " N o . J , 19^5]narratives, of oonrse..All narratives?Many commentators who admit the idea of a narrative structure cannot reconcile themselveoto follow ing the example' of the experimental sciences in their .liwrary(analysis* They boldly suggest the application of a purely inductive'method to study the narrative, beginning with all the narratives of one genre, one period, or one society and thence proceeding to the! outline of a general pattern.This implies a Utopian view of man's interest* The science of linguistics itself, which has only three thousand languages to encompass does not attempt this; wisely, a deductive method h?s been adopted and since then it has really established itself and forged/ ahead even suc ceeding in predicting facts still to be discovered.*what abqut narra tive analysis confronted by millions of narratives?It must adopt a deductive process; first it must formulate a hypothetical pattern of description (what American students of linguistics call a "theory" [theorie], and thence cotae down gradually, from the starting point of this pattern, towards tile examples of narratives which at once conform with and differ from the pattern: it is only at the level of these con formities and differences that it will rediscover, now provided with a unique tpol of description, the multiplicity of narratives, their his torical, geographical, cultural diversity.Î n o r d e r to describe and classify the infinite number of narra tives, therefore, it is necessary to have a "theory" (in the pragmatic sense mentioned above) and the first task is to search for and to out line this theory.^The elaboration of this theory can be greatly faci litated if one follows a pattern which will provide one with first terms and first principles.At the present stage of research it would seem reasonable to adopt as a basic pattern for the structural analysis of the narrative the science of linguistics itself.