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Coming to Terms The Rhetoric of Narrative in Fiction and Film 1990 240 pages Complementary Texts Tammy L Bennington and Geri Gay Keywords Copyright © 2000-2007 Isabel Pedersen |
Chatman applies models of Narrative to works of
literature and film. Essentially, he bridges a theory of narrative applicable
to both mediums. He defines his terms constantly throughout this work,
distancing himself and aligning himself with other theorists like Bordwell,
Genette. He begins by describing the texts he would like to
consider. A text must have a chronology; he is interested in only those works
which progress (e.g., written works, films, symphonies, plays). Paintings,
for example, do not have an implied chronology, they depend upon the viewer’s
own definition of beginning and end. There must be chrono-logic. Narrative is a text-type rather than a genre. The other text-types are Argument and Description. All the text-types overlap and it is conceivable to experience a narrative that engages in argument for example. Chatman distinguishes between tacit and explicit description. Tacit description takes place in film, explicit description mostly in written works. Diegetic narrative or diegesis involves pure narrative. When the poet narrates a narrative as himself, and not an assumed character, diegetic narrative takes place. Mimesis occurs when there is imitation of character. When a narrator delivers the narrative as if he/she were someone else, there is mimesis or mimetic narrative. Chatman insists that all narratives have a narrator even if that narrator is non-human. Narration implies agency, although the word agent does not insist upon a human. Chatman rebuts Christian
Metz’s semiotical approach. He believes that verbal activity is not a
sufficient model to analyze the visual. |