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Discourse schemata and the Structure of
Narrative
Labovian Analysis
The work of
Labov
and Waletzky (1967) and Labov (1972) was the
starting point
for many researchers in
the field.
It has become paradigmatic,
and has, to some
extent, functioned
normatively, in Narrative Research.
Labov
and
Waletzky
(1967)
define
narrative
as
?consisting
of
a
sequence
of
two
or
more
narrative clauses that report events
that actually
happened, or as
if
they actually
happene
d?. These temporal
events
must advance the
story
line. Essentially
a
narrative
consists of at least two
restricted narrative clauses whose sequence cannot
be reversed
without changing the
semantic
interpretation of the story
(Labov and Waletzky 1967:
p.28).
An
alternative
definition
of
narrative
is
offered
by
Labov
(1972)
who
posits
that
narrative
is
?one
method
of
recapitulating
past
experience
by
matching
a
verbal
sequence of clauses to the sequence of
events which (it
is
inferred) actually occurred?
(Labov 1972 p.359-360).
How does Labov describe an event
narrative?
The
Labovian approach treats personal
narrative as story text and produces
structural
analyses
of
specific
oral
personal
event
narratives.
It
is
event
centered
and
text
centered
as
it
is
considered
a
text
which
presents
temporally
or
causally
ordered
events.
A
minimal narrative is “a sequence of two clauses
which are temporally ordered”
Six part model:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Abstract (A) - What the story is about
Orientation (O) - Who, When
Where, etc.
Complicating
Action (CA) - What happened then?
Evaluation (E) - What this means
Result (R) - What finally
happened
Coda (C) -
Summary, return to floor (optional)
There are three main types of
evaluation (Labov, 1972):
External Evaluation
–
Overt, narrator stands
outside the action
?
Embedded
Evaluation
–
Narrator
describes
feelings
at
the
time,
thus
staying
within narrative
?
Evaluative Action
–
Report actions which
reveal emotions
?