Description: Basic Elements of Narrative outlines a way of thinking about what narrative is and how to identify its basic elements across various media, introducing key concepts developed by previous theorists and contributing original ideas to the growing body of scholarship on stories.
- Includes an overview of recent developments in narrative scholarship
- Provides an accessible introduction to key concepts in the field
- Views narrative as a cognitive structure, type of text, and resource for interpersonal communication
- Uses examples from literature, face to face interaction, graphic novels, and film to explore the core features of narrative
- Includes a glossary of key terms, full bibliography, and comprehensive index
- Appropriate for multiple audiences, including students, non-specialists, and experts in the field
Review Quotes: "This book has some very valuable pieces of narrative wisdom that would be useful to scholars in narrative theory, literary analysis and sociolinguistics...It is, however, a complete and solid companion for those con-cerned with the important task of further developing the field of narrative inquiry." (Discourse Studies, December 2010)
"In Basic Elements of Narrative the eminent narratologist David Herman offers new ideas about what narrative is . . .The interdisciplinary nature of this chicken-and-egg question-whether narratives represent what it's like to live in our world or we learn from narratives what it's like to live in our world-serves as an excellent indication of the breadth of the audience for which Herman's book will be thought-provoking." (Papers on Language and Literature, 2010)