What is a narrative discourse?

Definition
	A narrative discourse is a discourse that is an account of events, usually in the past, that employs verbs of speech, motion, and action to describe a series of events that are contingent one on another, and that typically focuses on one or more performers of actions.

Features
	Events are organized chronologically. First or third person pronoun forms are used. The text is oriented around a specific agent or agents.

Examples

Folk stories
- Stories about real or imagined ancestors, often containing supernatural elements
Historical events
- Stories or accounts about the social and political history of the world and its contacts with the rest of the world
Mythology
- Stories explaining origins, natural phenomena, or social and religious customs, often involving the supernatural
Personal experience
- Accounts of significant events in the life of the narrator or the community

Parts
	Exposition or setting Inciting moment Developing conflict Climax Denouement Final suspense Conclusion

Generic
	A narrative discourse is a kind of
	What is a discourse?

Concept module: narrative discourse
In overview module: Glossary (Linguistics): N
In modular book: Glossary of linguistic terms, by Eugene E. Loos (general editor), Susan Anderson (editor), Dwight H., Day, Jr. (editor), Paul C. Jordan (editor), and J. Douglas Wingate (editor)
In bookshelf: Linguistics

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 5.0 published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 2003. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 5 January 2004