What is narrative: elements and subgenres

what is narrative

Narrative is a literary genre that recounts a flow of events. in a certain order that may or may not be chronological. In the same way, it has a series of elements and characteristics. It is a genre of fiction because what counts is wholly or mostly invented.

It can be applied to many formats today. The most common is to talk about books, series and movies, but there is also narrative in video games, board and role-playing games, comics or graphic novels, radio and podcasts. But we even find narrative in the press if we talk about chronicles or opinion articles that navigate more in the field of literature than that of neat and impartial information.

The Royal Spanish Academy in its definition is more even-tempered and phlegmatic: Narrative is "a literary genre made up of the novel, the novella or the short story". But remember that a text is the origin of any story or story. In the same way, narrative could also be interpreted as part of semiotics, although the approach seen here will be more literary.

narrative elements

Action

Succession of actions contained in an approach, knot and outcome. These events make for an entertaining and interesting story for the reader. They must be timely and excite or fascinate in some way. The action, too, is what we call "plot.". What happens in it must have meaning; if the action is good, it will be coherent and limited, always at the service of the narrative.

Theme

It is the main idea of ​​the text that can be understood from the plot, but should not be confused with it. There are narratives that, due to their complexity, may have a theme that is difficult to define, but a good analysis reduces the theme to a few words; The theme is the subject of the narrative. The most universal themes in a narrative work are: love, death, family, revenge, suffering, madness, compassion, freedom, justice, etc. If for the reader the theme of the story is important, for the creator of the work it is essential to master it.

Style

The style is the personal mark of the writer and includes the way he has to express himself; including the genre chosen by him (drama, thriller, love). Although it is normally more common to find it in prose, the narrative style can be enriched in many ways by its author, thus being more conventional, experimental or innovative.

Narrator

It is the voice that orders and describes the events. It can be the main character (first person), or an omniscient narrator that transcends history, characters, time and space and is usually represented in a third person. There may be one narrator or several, present the information completely or partially, it may be a witness narrator (and narrate in the third person). In short, the possibilities are great, especially if it is a more traditional or avant-garde narration.

Characters

They are the ones who live the action and suffer the plot. They can be described by their actions, their physique, personality or dialogues. They are divided into protagonists, secondary and antagonists. They can be people or animals, or beings from another world, or even be a narrator character. The limit is in the author's imagination; however, they must fulfill a function, a mission that makes them relevant in history and not be a mere decoration. Especially the main character must have a strong desire, a goal that makes him act as he does or make his decisions; this is what will move the story.

Time and space

The environment is fundamental, it gives context to the events, the characters and the actions they carry out. All this must be located in a place and at a time and from here a story is established. It is true that this information may be veiled, that it may be approximate and not exact for literary reasons. But for obvious reasons, everything moves in space and time, even if it's a character rolling in a timeless black hole.

Once upon a time

narrative subgenres

Novela

It is the narrative genre of greater extension and in literature the most popular today. It usually narrates fictitious events in prose and includes different genres.and thriller, drama, romance, horror, fantasy, science fiction, war and adventure, humorous, historical, or erotic. They are stories for the entertainment and delight of the reading public. However, the difference can also be established between the popular novel and the literary novel, whether contemporary or classic, which deals with higher themes in order to move the reader to reflection.

Story

Or story, should not be limited only to the children's narrative. The story, also in prose, is essentially a perfectly delimited short story, where nothing is missing or left over. Everything in it is reduced, there is only one plot, and it is easy to identify. It is fiction and has also sometimes been associated with legend or fable.

Legend

The origin of the legends is in orality and they are usually part of the popular culture of the peoples and their traditions.. Its theme is often wonderful, with fictional places and supernatural beings. Since their origin is in oral heritage, legends normally arise from the beliefs of the inhabitants of a town or settlement, where the individual experience later passes through to the collective.

Mito

For its part, myth concerns mythology, and this is much more universal than legend, which has a more regional character. Mythology belongs to everyone because we move to the origins of Western civilization if we talk about the Greek or Roman. The set of stories arising from gods and heroes are the myths that cross the barrier of the text, since we know them many times represented in paintings or other artistic manifestations.

Fable

The fable are narratives of an instructive nature and the characters are usually animals or non-human beings. The most important thing in them is that they contain a moral; They are intended to establish a teaching from an assumption and the reaction to it.

Epic

The epic belongs to the epic, the germ of the narrative. are normally long poems narrating supreme and extraordinary events. Its protagonists are exalted characters with a superhuman character due to the feats they undertake or the noble sentiments and values ​​they defend.


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