A narrative is an explicit human emotional transmittance. It reminds me of the aura yet it is more than an indescribable feeling; it is a communicated story that occupies a certain time and space. A narrative should be able to be transmitted to someone else through language. Language includes film, photography, music, or any other way humans communicate ideas whether it is art or merely body language. To Herman, conflict is an essential part of narrative.[1] However, a narrative could be an expressed experience. Watching a cat clean her kittens, either in nature or in a film, is a narrative because the human thought process creates a narrative naturally. It might remind the viewer of the innocence of animals, or the joys of motherhood. The human mind creates a narrative from image even without a specific conflict.
Gerald Prince is mistaken when he attributes the rising usage of the word to laziness or a “hedging device, to avoid strong positions.” He laments that we do not use words such as explanation, theory, hypothesis, ideology, or message.[2] However, the word narrative has evolved to be very different than those words because of the connotation; it implies an emotional connection from the sender to the receiver. As Ryan says, “narrative is about human experience” and “interpersonal relations.” [3] “Narrative is universal” since it expresses emotions everyone has. [4] This is why each unit of a narrative, whether they be words or a stroke of paint, is chosen for a very specific reason.
In the Williams Carlos Williams poem “This Is Just to Say,” one can visualize the ice cold plums, the ice cold silence of being alone, and feel the ice cold uneasiness of taking something without permission, perhaps sexually. [5] This is similar to Barthes’ James Bond example. In the line “he picked up one of the four receivers,” four is not just there to express the number of phones. After all, according to Barthes, the word four never just means “four” in a linguistic context. A room with four phone receivers implies a business-like, urgent setting. It creates an emotional context and a the time and space is communicated to the audience.[6] “Art does not acknowledge the existence of noise… it is a pure system…” Barthes explains.[7] Whether artistic or not, narrative has no room for noise. It has a mission to clearly communicate emotion, time and space to foster a connection from human to human.
[1] Herman, David. The Cambridge Companion to Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print.
[2] Ryan, Marie-Laure. "Toward a Definition of a Narrative." The Cambridge Companion to Narrative. Ed. David Herman. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print.
[3] Ryan, Marie-Laure. "Toward a Definition of a Narrative." The Cambridge Companion to Narrative. Ed. David Herman. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print.
[4] Barthes, Roland, and Lionel Duisit. "An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative."New Literary History 6.2 (1975): 238-72. Print.
[5] Abbott, H. Porter. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print.
[6] Barthes, Roland, and Lionel Duisit. "An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative."New Literary History 6.2 (1975): 238-72. Print.
[7] Barthes, Roland, and Lionel Duisit. "An Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative."New Literary History 6.2 (1975): 238-72. Print.
I like the idea of a narrative being created naturally by the human thought process. The creation and interpretation of the narrative has many layers, but they aren't noticed because it happens so smoothly. Only when the process is carefully studied can the ability to create and utilize narratives be appreciated.
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