Narrative discourse is a type of communication that involves telling a story in chronological order. It can be written or verbal and is often in first or third person. It comes in various forms in different media and can be analyzed to evaluate communication and media. Understanding the power of storytelling is important in today’s complex media world.
Narrative discourse is a type of written or verbal communication that involves narrating or, in other words, telling a story. This is one of the classic types of speech that helps people identify different modes of communication and different types of functions for speaking or writing. Narrative discourse is common in certain types of media.
There are some key features and characteristics of narrative speech. One is that the narrative usually takes place in chronological order. Narration or storytelling works in this way to inform the listener or reader, taking them through a chain of sequential events, so they can naturally build their understanding of the situation or scenario being narrated.
Another characteristic of narratives is that they are often written or told in the first or third person. Some of these narratives may use the second person point of view, but this is unusual. An omniscient narrative uses the third person; for example, someone who says “the rabbit bounced in the yard” is constructing a third-person narrative. Conversely, someone who says, “I saw the rabbit bounce around the yard,” is using the first-person point of view.
In different media, narrative discourse also comes in various forms. In fiction and some other types of textual media, narrative often comes in the form of a continuous chronological omniscient third-person narrative. In some forms of visual media, such as television and film, the narrative often comes in a first-person monologue, which is sometimes a “voice-over.” In voice-over, a voice-over provides the narrative, overlaid with remote, but often related images.
Analyzing a narrative and identifying narrative discourse help outsiders evaluate and analyze written or oral communications. Students from various academic departments could use fiction assessment to learn more about media and communication. For example, the use of narrative in advertising, where this form of speech is often mixed with other basic forms, can provide a lot of insight into the marketing strategies of the company behind the advertisement. Some modern journalists, pundits, and others involved in social commentary even refer to a “narrative” as the primary element of an issue, in which parties wrestle for control of the narrative to shape the collective perception of events. Understanding the power of storytelling is a key part of studying today’s complex media world.
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