exercises
- Rewrite the same passage in a number of different ways using
various types of narrators who are both inside and outside the
story (these are known as homodiegetic and heterodiegetic
narrators respectively). Experiment also with metafictional,
overt and covert narrators. Consider the way in which different
kinds of narration affect the dynamics of power, both within the
narrative and between narrator and reader. - Write a piece which emphasises the relationship between the
narrator (the person who is telling the story) and the narratee
(the person to whom the story is being told). - Write two short narrative passages: one in which the gram-
matical position of the subject is fixed and one in which it is
unsettled. - Write a short piece which illustrates narrative foreshadowing.
- Create a text which includes non-narrated elements: i.e. incor-
porates passages in which the narrator is absent. - Build a point of view (focalisation) using the triggers sensing,
feeling and thinking. - Create a point of view which alternates between exterior action
and internal thought. - Write about the same incident from two or three completely
different points of view or focalisations. Use this as a means to
explore different forms of subjectivity and divergent cultural
viewpoints. - Write a text which restructures the narrative and moves
between different points in the past and the present. Consider, if
relevant, how the structure of your piece relates to the opera-
tions of memory.
ENTER NARRATOLOGY, ENTER POWER
You can learn a great deal about shaping narratives from acquainting
yourself with narratology. Narratology is a theory of narrative, and was an
outgrowth of structuralism: it is an analytical system for understanding
narrative structure. Narratologists break down the macrostructure of nar-
rative form into its micro-elements. Narratology challenges traditional
formulations of narrative as a plot with characters. Instead it breaks down
Narrative, narratology, power 85