Narrative - what is it? Narrative sources and techniques

Before proceeding with the description of such a phenomenon as narrativity in the modern humanities, and also to identify its characteristics and structures, it is first of all necessary to define the term "narrative" itself.

Narrative - what is it?

There are several versions about the origin of the term, more precisely, several sources from which it could appear. According to one of them, the name "narrative" originates from the words narrare and gnarus, which in Latin means "knowing about something" and "expert". In English, there is also a similar in meaning and sound word narrative - "story", which no less fully reflects the essence of the narrative concept. Today narrative sources can be found in almost all scientific branches: psychology, sociology, philology, philosophy and even psychiatry. But to study such concepts as narrativity, narration, narrative techniques, and others there is a separate independent direction - narratology. So, it is worthwhile to figure out the narrative itself - what is it and what are its functions?

Both etymological sources, proposed above, carry in themselves a single meaning - the report of knowledge, the story. That is, in simpler terms, narrative is a narrative of something. However, do not confuse this concept with a simple story. Narrative narrative has individual characteristics and characteristics, which led to the emergence of an independent term.

Narrative and story

What is the difference between a narrative and a simple story? A story is a way of communication, a way of obtaining and transmitting actual (qualitative) information. The narrative is the so-called "explaining story", if one uses the terminology of the American philosopher and art historian Arthur Danto (Danteau A. Analytic Philosophy of History, Moscow: Idea Press, 2002. P. 194). That is, the narrative is, rather, not an objective, but a subjective narrative. A narrative arises when an ordinary story adds subjective emotions and narrator-narrator ratings. There is a need not just to convey information to the listener, but to impress, interest, compel to listen, cause a certain reaction. In other words, the difference between a narrative from an ordinary narrative or a narrative that ascertains facts is in attracting individual narrator assessments and emotions of each narrator. Or in the indication of cause-effect relationships and the existence of logical chains between the events described, if it is a question of objective historical or scientific texts.

Narrative: an example

In order to finally establish the essence of narrative narrative, it is necessary to consider it in practice - in the text. So, narrative - what is it? An example demonstrating the difference between narrative and story, in this case, can compare the following excerpts: "Yesterday I got my feet wet. Today I did not go to work "and" Yesterday I got my feet wet, that's why I got sick today and did not go to work ". In content these statements are almost identical. However, only one element changes the essence of the narrative - an attempt to link both events. The first variant of the statement is free from subjective representations and cause-effect relations, in the second they are present and are of key importance. In the original version, it was not specified why the hero-narrator did not come to the service, perhaps it was a day off, or he really felt bad, but for another reason. However, the second option reflects the already subjective attitude to the message of a certain narrator, who, through his own considerations and an appeal to personal experience, conducted an analysis of the information and established cause-and-effect relationships, voicing them in his own retelling of the message. The psychological, "human" factor can completely change the meaning of the narrative if the context provides insufficient information.

Narratives in scientific texts

Nevertheless, not only contextual information, but also the experience of the perceiver (narrator) affects the subjective assimilation of information, the introduction of assessments and emotions. Proceeding from this, the narrative's narrative is reduced, and one might assume that narrativity is not inherent in all texts, but, for example, it is absent in scientific messages. However, this is not quite true. To a greater or lesser extent, narrative traits can be found in any messages, since the text contains not only the author and the narrator, who can in fact be different actors, but also the reader or listener who perceive and interpret the received information in different ways. First of all, of course, this applies to artistic texts. However, in scientific reports there are narratives. They are present more in historical, cultural and social contexts and are not an objective reflection of reality, but rather act as an indicator of their multidimensionality. However, they can also influence the formation of cause-effect relationships between historically authentic events or other facts.

Given such a variety of narratives and their abundant presence in texts of different content, science could no longer ignore the phenomenon of narrativity and closely engaged in its study. To date, various scientific communities are interested in such a way of knowing the world, as a narrative. It has prospects for development in it, since the narrative allows us to systematize, order, disseminate information, and also to individual humanitarian branches, to study human nature.

Discourse and narrative

From all of the above, it follows that the structure of the narrative is ambiguous, its forms are unstable, there are no any of their samples in principle, and depending on the context of the situation they are filled with individual content. Therefore, the context or discourse in which this or that narrative is embodied is an important part of its existence.

If we consider the meaning of the word in a broad sense, discourse is speech in principle, linguistic activity and its process. However, in this formulation the term "discourse" is used to denote a certain context, necessary for the creation of any text, as one or another position of the existence of the narrative.

According to the concept of postmodernists, the narrative is a discursive reality, which is revealed in it. French literature theorist and postmodernist Jean-Francois Lyotard called narration one of the possible types of discourse. He sets forth his ideas in detail in the monograph "The State of Modernity" (Lyotard Jean-Francois, Postmodern State, St. Petersburg: Aleteya, 1998. - 160 p.). Psychologists and philosophers Jens Brockmeier and Rom Harre described the narrative as a "subspecies of discourse," and their concept can also be found in research work (Brockmeyer Jens, Harre Rom., Narrative: Problems and Promises of an Alternative Paradigm // Issues of Philosophy - 2000. - No. 3 - P. 29-42.). Thus, it is obvious that, as applied to linguistics and literary criticism, the concepts "narrative" and "discourse" are inseparable and exist in parallel.

Narrative in Philology

A great deal of attention was paid to narrative and narrative techniques by philological sciences: linguistics, literary criticism. In linguistics this term, as already mentioned above, is studied together with the term "discourse". In literary criticism, he refers more quickly to postmodern concepts. Scientists J. Brockmeier and R. Harre in his treatise "Narrative: the problems and promises of one alternative paradigm" offered to understand it as a way of ordering knowledge and giving meaning to experience. In their opinion, narrative is an instruction to compose stories. That is, a set of specific linguistic, psychological and cultural structures, knowing which, you can make an interesting story in which you will clearly discern the mood and message of the narrator.

The narrative in literature is important for artistic texts. Since a complex chain of interpretations is realizing here, starting from the point of view of the author and ending with the perception of the reader / listener. Creating the text, the author puts in it certain information that, after going through a long textual path and reaching the reader, can completely change or be differently interpreted. In order to correctly decipher the author's intentions, it is necessary to take into account the presence of other characters, the author himself and the author-narrator, which in themselves are separate narrators and narrators, that is, narrating and perceiving. Perception is complicated if the text is dramaturgical, since drama is one of the kinds of literature. Then the interpretation is distorted even more, having passed through the exposition by its actor, who also introduces his emotional and psychological characteristics into the narrative.

However, it is this ambiguity, the opportunity to fill the message with different meanings, leave the reader to think and is an important part of fiction.

Narrative method in psychology and psychiatry

The term "narrative psychology" belongs to the American psychologist-cognitivist and teacher Jerome Bruner. He and the forensic psychologist Theodor Sarbin can rightfully be considered the founders of this humanitarian branch.

According to the theory of J. Bruner, life is a series of narratives and subjective perceptions of various stories, the purpose of the narrative is in the subjectivization of the world. T. Sarbin is of the opinion that in narraties facts and fiction that determine the experience of a particular person are connected.

The essence of the narrative method in psychology is the recognition of a person and his deep problems and fears by analyzing his stories about them and their own lives. Narratives are inseparable from society and cultural context, since it is in them that they are formed. The narrative in psychology for an individual has two practical meanings: first, it opens the possibilities for self-identification and self-knowledge by creating, interpreting and pronouncing various stories; secondly, it is a way of self-presentation, thanks to such a story about oneself.

In psychotherapy, a narrative approach is also used. It was developed by Australian psychologist Michael White and New Zealand psychotherapist David Epston. Its essence is to create certain circumstances around the treating client (the client), the ground for creating his own history, involving certain people and performing certain actions. And if narrative psychology is considered a theoretical branch, then in psychotherapy the narrative approach demonstrates its practical application.

Thus, it is obvious that the narrative concept is successfully used in practically all areas that study human nature.

The narrative in politics

There is an understanding of narrative narrative and in political activity. However, the term "political narrative" has a negative connotation rather than a positive connotation. In diplomacy, narrative is understood as a deliberate deception, concealment of true intentions. Narrative narrative implies deliberate concealment of some facts and true intentions, possibly a substitution of the thesis and the use of euphemisms to make the text euphonic and avoid specificity. As mentioned above, the difference between a narrative and an ordinary narrative is the desire to make people listen, to impress, which is typical for the speech of modern politicians.

Visualization of narrative

As for the visualization of narratives, this is a rather difficult question. According to some scholars, for example, the theorist and practice of J. Bruner's narrative psychology, the visual narrative is not reality wrapped in textual form, but structured and ordered speech within the narrator. This process, he called a way of constructing and establishing reality. Indeed, it is not the "literal" linguistic shell that forms the narrative, but consistently set forth and logically correct text. Thus, you can visualize the narrative by voicing it: having spoken orally or writing in the form of a structured text message.

Narrative in Historiography

Actually, the historical narrative is what initiated the formation and study of narratives in other areas of humanitarian knowledge. The term "narrative" itself was borrowed from historiography, where the concept of "narrative history" existed. Its meaning was to consider historical events not in their logical sequence, but through the prism of context and interpretation. Interpretation is key in the very essence of narrative and narration.

Historical narrative - what is it? This is a narrative from the original source, not a critical exposition, but an objective one. First of all, historical texts can be attributed to narrative sources: treatises, chronicles, some folklore and liturgical texts. Narrative sources are those texts and messages in which there are narrative narratives. However, according to J. Brockmeier and R. Harre, all the texts are not all narrative and answer the "concept of telling".

Concerning historical narrativity, there are several misconceptions caused by the fact that some "stories", for example autobiographical texts, are based only on facts, while others have either been retold or modified. Thus, their veracity is reduced, but the reality does not change, only the attitude of each individual narrator changes to it. The context remains the same, but each narrator in his own way connects him with the described events, extracting important, in his opinion, situations, weaving them into the narrative canvas.

As for specifically autobiographical texts, there is another problem: the author's desire to draw attention to his person and activities, and therefore the possibility of providing knowingly false information or distorting the truth in his own favor.

To summarize, it can be said that narrative techniques, one way or another, have found their application in most of the humanities, which study the nature of the human personality and its habitat. Narratives are inseparable from subjective human assessments, just as a person is inseparable from a society in which his individual life experience is formed, and therefore his own opinion and a subjective view of the world around him.

Summarizing the above information, we can formulate the following definition of a narrative: a narrative is a structured logical narrative that reflects the individual perception of reality, as well as a way of organizing subjective experience, an attempt at self-identification and self-presentation of the individual.