Narrativity and its modes as culture-transcending analytical categories.

This article investigates the value of the concept of narrativity and its modes for the investigation of the literary forms of non-Western cultures such as Japan's. Following Ben-Amos (1969), a distinction is made between 'ethnic' concepts of genre, which correspond to the types of text recognized b...

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Published in:Japan Forum Vol. 21; no. 3; pp. 307 - 324
Main Author: Ryan, Marie-Laure
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Narrativity and its modes as culture-transcending analytical categories.
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        au: Ryan, Marie-Laure
      su:
        Ethnicity
        Culture
        Semantics
        Discourse
        Literary form
        Japanese literature
        Narratives
        Categories (Philosophy)
        Seventeenth century
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          Ethnicity
          Culture
          Semantics
          Discourse
          Literary form
          Japanese literature
          Narratives
          Categories (Philosophy)
          Seventeenth century
      keyword:
        analytical categories
        ethnic categories
        kanazōshi
        kanazōshi
        narrative modes
        narrativity
        sōshi
        sōshi
        analytical categories
        ethnic categories
        kanazōshi
        kanazōshi
        narrative modes
        narrativity
        sōshi
        sōshi
      ab: This article investigates the value of the concept of narrativity and its modes for the investigation of the literary forms of non-Western cultures such as Japan's. Following Ben-Amos (1969), a distinction is made between 'ethnic' concepts of genre, which correspond to the types of text recognized by the members of a culture, and universally applicable 'analytical' concepts which form the building blocks of ethnic categories. 'Narrative' is shown to be one of these analytical concepts. This article situates narrative within the life of the mind through a Venn diagram, defines it in terms of several features whose presence or absence determine various degrees of narrativity, and outlines a descriptive theory that recognizes three types of 'modes of narrativity': semantic, discursive and pragmatic. The contribution of the study of the modes of narrativity to Japanese literature lies in the possibility of combining them in endless ways, creating ever new culture-specific literary forms.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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