Story and Discourse

Fülszöveg

STORY AND DISCOURSE
Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film
SEYMOUR CHATMAN
Synthesizing the work of continental critics such as Genette, Todorov, and
Barthes, and that of critics in the Anglo-American tradition, such as Lubbock
and Booth, Seymour Chatman provides a comprehensive approach to a
general theory of narrative, in both verbal and visual media. In Story and
Discourse, he analyzes what narrative is in itself.
"An important American contribution to the study of narrative theory."
— Choice
"What I appreciate most in Chatman's study are the problem-solving ac-
tivities and ambitions: again and again, he proves capable of defining areas to
investigate (the borders between narrative and other temporal genres, for
example, the typology of plots, the distinctive features of foregrounding and
backgrounding) and of discussing narrative in terms of problems and solu-
tions. When I opened the Chatman volume, I read the blurb first: 'A judicious
and well-informed... Tovább

Fülszöveg

STORY AND DISCOURSE
Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film
SEYMOUR CHATMAN
Synthesizing the work of continental critics such as Genette, Todorov, and
Barthes, and that of critics in the Anglo-American tradition, such as Lubbock
and Booth, Seymour Chatman provides a comprehensive approach to a
general theory of narrative, in both verbal and visual media. In Story and
Discourse, he analyzes what narrative is in itself.
"An important American contribution to the study of narrative theory."
— Choice
"What I appreciate most in Chatman's study are the problem-solving ac-
tivities and ambitions: again and again, he proves capable of defining areas to
investigate (the borders between narrative and other temporal genres, for
example, the typology of plots, the distinctive features of foregrounding and
backgrounding) and of discussing narrative in terms of problems and solu-
tions. When I opened the Chatman volume, I read the blurb first: 'A judicious
and well-informed book, Story and Discourse should become the standard
guide to narrative and to modern thinking about narrative/ The blurb
is right." — Gerald Prince, Modern Language Notes
"For the specialist in the study of narrative structure, this is a solid and very
perceptive exploration of the issues salient to the telling of a story—whatever
the medium. Chatman, whose approach here is at once dualist and struc-
turalist, divides his subject into the 'what' of the narrative (Story) and the
'way' (Discourse) Chatman's command of his material is impressive."
— Library Journal
SEYMOUR CHATMAN, Professor of Rhetoric at the University of California,
Berkeley, received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan. Among
his works are A Theory of English Meter, An Introduction-to Poetic Language, and
The Later Style of Henry James. Vissza