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2021/2022

Narrative Theories and Discourse Genres

Code: 104735 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2503873 Interactive Communication OB 2 1
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Marķa Rosario Lacalle Zalduendo
Email:
Rosario.Lacalle@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
No
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Teachers

Anna Tous Rovirosa

Prerequisites

None

Objectives and Contextualisation

Objectives and contextualization

The semiologist Roland Barthes wrote in 1966 that the ability to narrate is inherent to humanity and that there has never been and will never exist a people without stories. The origin of storytelling goes back to the myths, religions and tales of ancient societies; but also to figurative representations (drawing, painting, sculpture ...), magical rituals and, in general, to all those expressive forms that turn collective imagination and human communication into stories ready to be narrated. The study of discursive genres, from Aristotelian rhetoric to current procedural rhetoric, obeys the need to understand and reproduce these constantly evolving human manifestations.

The narrative turn, which happens in History at the seventies and in Social Sciences at the eighties, blurs the border between reality and fiction, and shows the structural, aesthetic and thematic similarity between fiction and facts. Narratology arises in this context with the aim of becoming a scientific discipline, which aspires to study both narrative and narration; the narrated as the act of narrating.

The Internet has multiplied the creation and circulation of storytelling to an unthinkable rate in the Gutenberg era, and it has made the consumption of the products from the cultural industries one of the bastions of the worldwide economy. The spread of the internet has promoted the expansion of the narrative in all areas of knowledge. It also stimulates continuous feedback between reality and fiction. Digital storytelling has thus become the prevalent communicative modality not only in politics, but also in science and even in daily interactions between people through social networks.

This course covers the different stages of evolution of narrative theories and genres of discourse, The  aim is to rethink the concepts and foundations of this field of study, as well as their application to the construction and interpretation of stories. The objective isto provide students with the conceptual tools necessary to understand and analyze both fictional and non-fictional digital narratives and genres.

Gender perspective

Coexistence in society arises initially from the instinct to protect the human species, but also from the need to relate to the others. The initial function of the storytelling was the construction and reproduction of norms and protocols of use aimed to guarantee the survival of society, while trying to answer the essential questions of humanity: Where do we come from? ? Who are we? Where do we go?

The constant displacement of themes and narrative motifs from one cultural environment to another, ends up assimilating the characters with the values that determine their position in the social imaginary. This is the origin of stigmas and stereotypes .

The study of narrative theories and genres of discourse is a paradigmatic area to identify the origin and social construction of stereotypes and stigmas linked to gender. One of the fundamental objectives of this subject is to show, in a critical way, the imprint of heteronormative androcentrism in the stories; not only in the past but also in the present. The course pretends to familiarize the  students with the necessary tools to be able to identify the elements from which those stigmas and stereotypes are built and consolidated.

Competences

  • Devise, create, activate and integrate virtual and augmented-reality spaces, characters and objects.
  • Distinguish between and apply the principal theories, conceptual frameworks and approaches regulating interactive communication.
  • Manage time efficiently and plan for short-, medium- and long-term tasks.
  • Search for, select and rank any type of source and document that is useful for creating messages, academic papers, presentations, etc.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Cross-check information to establish its veracity, using evaluation criteria.
  2. Distinguish the salient features in all types of documents within the subject.
  3. Identify and compare narrative theories from their beginnings until today's storytelling.
  4. Interpret and discuss documents on the main theories of communication.
  5. Master the narrative resources and techniques for creating stories tailored to virtual worlds and ascribe them to a particular genre.
  6. Plan and execute narrative works.
  7. Present a summary of the studies made, orally and in writing.
  8. Recognise the division of narrative theories by genre in the new virtual leisure media.
  9. Submit course assignments on time, showing the individual and/or group planning involved.

Content

1. Introduction to the study of narrative theories and genres
2. The origins of narrative and rhetoric
3. The narrative cycle
4. Stories and characters in digital narratives
5. Elements of narratology
6. Enunciation and narration
7. The interpretation of the stories
8. The genres of discourse: from Aristotle to procedural rhetoric
9. The stories of postmodernity
10. Narratives and digital and interactive genres

Methodology

The teaching activities combine theoretical classes, readings, tutorials, assignments and an exam. Discussion will be promoted in all areas, with the aim of stimulating reflection and the capacity for critical analysis.

During one of the classes, the teacher will provide students with 15 minutes to answer the surveys of the teaching performance and the subject or module.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Practical lessons 20 0.8 1, 7, 6, 9
Theoretical lessons 33 1.32 5, 3, 4, 8
Type: Supervised      
Assesment work 20 0.8 2, 6, 9
Type: Autonomous      
Personal study 24 0.96 1, 3, 8

Assessment

This subject combines different types of assessment.

1. Written exam (50% of the total score).

2. Work delivered (30%).

3. Readings, discussions and exercises (20%).

 The final grade will be the result of the weighted average of the three parts.

The review of the exam will take place after the delivery of the results, approximately two weeks later. The students who cannot do the exam for objective and documentary justified reasons, will have the option to make the test on the reevaluation day. 

The final grade of the interventions (on readings and exercises of the Seminar) will be obtained by performing the arithmetic mean. Unjustifiable absences will be scored with a 0.

Attendance to the theory sessions and seminars is compulsory.

Undelivered works on will be scored a 0

 The detailed calendar with the content of the different sessions will be exposed on the day of presentation of the subject. Students will find a detailed description of the exercises and practices on the virtual campus; teaching materials; and any information necessary for the right follow-up of the course.

 The proposed teaching methodology and evaluation activities may undergo some modifications depending on the health authorities' attendance restrictions.

Re-evaluation

In the period for the reevaluation, the failed exam can be made up provided that the grade is not less than 3.5 (the exam not taken scores 0 in the computation of the average). 

Only assignements with a grade not less than 3.5 can be re-assessed. 

The readings, discussions and exercises carried out in the seminars are linked to the work in the classroom, so they cannot be re-assessed.

In the case of a second enrolment, students can do a single synthesis exam/assignment that will consist of an exam. The grading of the subject will correspond to the grade of the synthesis exam.

The student who makes anyirregularity (copy, plagiarism, identity theft ...) will be rated with 0 this act of evaluation. In the event of several irregularities, the final grade for the course will be 0.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assignement 30% 30 1.2 1, 7, 6, 9
Exam 50% 3 0.12 2, 5, 3, 4, 8
Readings, participation 20% 20 0.8 1, 7, 6, 9

Bibliography

Essential bibliography (only the indicated pages)

- Bal, Mieke (2006) Teoría de la narrativa. Una introducción a la narratología. Cátedra (7ª ed.): Introducción (pp. 11-18); Del lugar al espacio (pp. 101-104); Focalización (pp. 107-120); Niveles de narración (pp. 142-153).

- Bertetti, Paolo (2015) La historia como discurso: el personaje. La historia audiovisual (pp. 111-122). Editorial UOC.

- Casetti, Francesco;  Di Chio, Francesco (1991) El análisis de la representación. Cómo analizar un film (pp. 121-170). Paidós.

- Chatman, Seymour (2013[1978]). Introducción. Historia y discurso (pp. 15-44). RBA Libros.

- Eco, Umberto (2017[1990]) Intentio Lectoris. Apuntes sobre la semiótica de la recepción. Los límites de la interpretación (pp. 21-46). Debolsillo.

- Ryan, Marie-Laure (2015). The Many Forms of Interactivity (pp. 160-185); Participatory Interactivity from Life Situations to Drama (pp. 207-228). Narrative as Virtual Reality 2. Johns Hopkins University Press. Disponible a https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/2493306 (La narración como realidad virtual: la inmersión y la interactividad en la literatura y en los medios electrónicos, Paidós, 2004).

-Ryan, Marie-Laure (2004) Will new media produce new narratives? M.-L. Ryan (ed.) Narrative across media (pp. 337-359). University of Nebraska Press

- Schaeffer, Jean-Marie (2012) Fictional vs. Factual Narration. P. Hühn et al. (eds.) The living handbook of narratology. Hamburg University. Disponible a http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de/ (traducción castellana autorizada disponible a http://tallerdeexpresion1.sociales.uba.ar/wp-content/uploads/sites/123/2012/04/Narracion_ficcional-vs-factual.pdf, pp. 1-15)

- Todorov, Tzvetan (2002[1978]. El origen de los géneros. Los géneros del discurso (pp. 57-80). Waldhuter.

- Vallés Calatrava, José R.; Álamo Felices, Francisco (2002) Diccionario de la teoría de la narrativa. Alhulia (voces: narrativa, narrativa natural, narratividad, narratología, relato).

- Vogler, Christopher (2002[1992]).  El viaje del escritor: Las estructuras míticas para escritores, guionistas, dramaturgos y novelistas (pp. 39-64). Ma Non Troppo (capítols: Una guía práctica y Los arquetipos)

- VV.AA. Introduction: What is genre?. G. Creber (ed.) The television genre book (pp. 1-15). British Film Institute.

- White, Hayden (2003[1978 y 1999]) El texto histórico como artefacto literario. El texto histórico como artefacto literario y otros escritos (pp. 107-139). Paidós.

Futher reading

UNIT 1 

-Canet, Fernando; Pròsper, Josep (2009) Introducción a la narración. Narrativa audiovisual. Estrategias y recursos (pp. 17-42). Síntesis.

- Meister, Jan C. (2014) Narratology. En P. Hühn, Peter et al. (eds.) The living handbook of narratology Disponible en http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de)

-Phelan, James (2007). Rhetoric/ethics. D. Herman (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Narrative (pp. 203-216). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CCOL0521856965.014

-Ryan, Marie-Laure (2003) On Defining Narrative Media. Image & Narrative. Online Magazine of the Visual Narrative, 6.  Disponible a http://www.imageandnarrative.be/inarchive/mediumtheory/marielaureryan.htm

UNIT 2

-Genette, Gerard (1993[1991]). Relato ficcional, relato factual. Ficción y dicción (pp. 54-84). Barcelona: Lumen.

-Hasan-Rokem, Galit (2016) Ecotypes: Theory of the Lived and Narrated Experience. Narrative Culture 3(1). doi: 10.13110/narrcult.3.1.0110

-Hyvärinen, Matti(2010) Revisiting the Narrative Turns. Life Writing, 7(1), 69-82. Disponible en: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233343228_Revisiting_the_Narrative_Turns

-Rashid, Mohd (2018) History as literature: a reading of White’s essay “the historical text as literary artifact” . International Journal of Advanced Research (IJAR) 6(9), 720-725. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21474/IJAR01/7729

UNIT 3

-Campbell, Joseph (2017[1949]) La aventura del héroe. El héroe de las mil caras. Psicoanálisis y mito (pp. 65-282). Fondo de Cultura Económica.

-Mackey-Kallis, Susan (2001). Introduction. The Hero and the Perennial Journey Home in American Film (pp. 1-10). University of Pennsylvania Press.

-Propp, Vladimir (1998[1928]). La morfología del cuento. Akal.

-Tomasevskij, Boris (2012[1957]) Temática. T. Todorov, Teoríade la literatura (pp. 271-314). Biblioteca Nueva.

UNIT 4

-Hogan, Patrick C. (2010) Characters and their plots.Eder, J; Jannidis, F.; Schneider, R. (eds.) Characters in Fictional Worlds (pp. 134-156). De Gruyter.

-Rank, Otto (1992[1909]) La interpretación de los mitos (pp. 79-114). El mito del nacimiento del héroe. Paidós.

-Tierno, Michael (2002). Character. Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters (pp. 88-98). USA: Hyperion. 

UNIT 5

-Barthes, Roland (1993[1966]) Introducción al análisis estructural del relato. La aventura semiológica(pp. 163-202). Paidós.

-Bertetti, Paolo (2015) La historia como discurso: cifras, espacios y tiempos. La historia audiovisual (pp. 71-110). Editorial UOC.

-Chatman, Seymour (2013[1978]).  Historia: existentes. Historia y discurso (pp. 103-156). RBA Editores.

-García Jiménez, Jesús (1993) Retórica de la temporalidad en el relato audiovisual. El relato audiovisual (pp. 397-402). Cátedra.

 UNIT 6

-Genette, Gerard (1989[1972]) La estructura del relato. Figuras III (pp. 77-321). Lumen.

-Bertetti, Paolo (2015) La historia como enunciación. La historia audiovisual (pp. 141-156). Editorial UOC.

-Pérez Latorre, Olivier (2012) La dimensión enunciativa del videojuego. Análisis de la significación del videojuego (pp. 214-233). Laertes.

UNIT 7

- Barthes, Roland (1994[1984]). La muerte del autor. El susurro del lenguaje. Más allá de la palabra y la escritura (pp. 65-72). Paidós.

-Darley, Andrew (2002[2000]) Juego de superficie y espacios de consumo. Cultura visual digital. Espectáculo y nuevos géneros en los medios de comunicación (pp. 261-296). Paidós.

-Eco, Umberto (1993[1079]) El lector modelo. Lector in fabula (pp. 73-95). Lumen.

- Jiménez Varea, J. ; Pineda Cachero, Antonio (2013) Del estructuralismo al cognitivismo: hacia un enfoque cientifista de la narratología. En V. Guarinos & A. Sedeño (eds.) Narrativas Audiovisuales Digitales: convergencia de medios, multiculturalidad y transmedia (pp. 18-49). Fragua.

UNIT 8

- Bogost, Ian (2007) Procedural rethoric. Persuasive games: the expressive power of videogames (p. 1-64). The MIT Press

-Jenner, Mareike (2015) Genre and Video on Demand. G. Creber (ed.) The television genre book (pp. (212-215). British Film Institute. 

-Mittell, Jason (2005) A Cultural Approach to Television Genre Theory. G. R. Edgerton

& B. G. Rose (eds.) Thinking outside the box. A contemporary television genre reader (pp. 37-64). The University Press of Kentucky.

-VV.AA. Introduction: what is genre?. G. Creber (ed.) The television genre book (pp. 1-15). British Film Institute.

UNIT 9

Currie, Mark (1998) The manufactures or identities. Postmodern narrative theory (pp. 17-32). McMillan.

-Deltell Escolar, Luis (2011) La carretera errante. La metáfora de la carretera/camino en el cine estadounidense actual. F. García García & Mario Rajas (eds.) Narrativas audiovisuales. Los discursos (pp. 125-142). Icono 14.

-Herman, Luc; Vervaeck, Bart (2005) Post-Classical Narratology. Handbook of Narrative Analysis (pp. 103-176). University of Nebraska.

-Vallés Calatrava, José R.; Álamo Felices, Francisco (2002) Otras aportaciones teóricas al estudio de la narrativa. Diccionario de la teoría de la narrativa (pp. 143-164). Alhulia.

UNIT 10

-Darley, Andrew (2002[2000]) La imagen digital en “La era del significante”. Cultura visual digital. Espectáculo y nuevos géneros en los medios de comunicación (pp. 197-230). Paidós.

-Elleström, Lars (2019). Narrating Through Media Modalities (pp. 45-59). Transmedial Narration Narratives and Stories in Different Media. Palgrave-MacMillan.

- Neitzel, Britta (2014) Narrativity of ComputerGames. P. Hühn, J.Pier, W. Schmid & J. Schönert (eds.). The living handbook of narratology. Hamburg University Press.

 

 

 

Software

None