SOURCE OF INFORMATION IN NARRATIVE DISCOURSE (Based on German Belles-lettres Works)

Abstract

The paper explores the source of information, understood as the narrating entity in literary communication. In narratology, this concept is not currently regarded as a system category relevant to the literary narrative in any narration, be it private (Ich-Erzählung), non-personal (Er-Erzählung) or personal. The personal narration highlights the first-hand perspective of the narrator as they derive information from their personal experience. In impersonal narration however, the source of information is not annulled: on the contrary, it is an entity providing a detailed description as an evidence of a spectator who told their impressions to the narrator. The verbal manifestation of this entity in an impersonal narrative is illustrated by reviewing the examples from the German fiction literature. The research presented in this paper demonstrates that the source of information is a category which is genetically inherent in the fiction narrative. This is further corroborated by referring to the Shannon — Weaver general communication model, where the source of information occupies the initial position. This concept is inherent to any narrative, including literature, which justifies the expansion of the conventional model onto the literary communication, as proposed in this paper.

Keywords:

narrative text, narrator, source of information, cognitive competence, personal narration, non-personal narration, figure of the spectator, model of communication, experienced speech, experienced perception