by David Herman (North Carolina State University).
Narratologies: New Perspectives on Narrative Analysis, Ohio State UP (1999).
An important subfield of discourse analysis, the study of narratively organized discourse can benefit from a synthesis of theoretical models developed in different disciplines and research traditions. In particular, two traditions of narrative analysis need to be integrated: the sociolinguistic approach inspired by Labov and Waletzky (Labov and Waletzky 1967; Labov 1972) and the narratological approach that originated as an outgrowth of structuralism in France in the late 1960s. In its classical version, narratology was hampered not only by its excessive reliance on Saussurean theories but also by its failure to accomodate developments being advanced by Anglo-American researchers, especially in the areas of pragmatics, discourse analysis, and (interactional) sociolinguistics. At the same time, the Labovian model can gain in both descriptive and explanatory adequacy if it is enriched with research tools developed at first under the auspices of narratology. Based on ghost stories elicited during a sociolinguistic interview, my paper focuses on two narratological ideas, both of them useful for analyzing how stories unfold as patterned sequences of referring expressions. The first idea is the distinction between story and discourse; the second is the redescription of certain entities in the storyworld as narrative actants. Narrative actants are names for the most basic and general roles (sender, helper, opponent, etc.) that can be assumed by participants in the narrated action; they are constructs based on behavioral paradigms stored as knowledge representations in the memory. Placed in dialogue with the Labovian approach, these narratological ideas suggest that any analysis of narrative structure must be linked to an account of narrative communication. If structuralist models throw light on aspects of narrative form, (socio)linguistic theories provide insight into storytelling as a mode of interaction. Accordingly, my paper outlines an integrated, "socionarratological" approach that situates stories in a constellation of linguistic, cognitive, and contextual factors. [D.H.]