Narrative

What is meant by ‘narrative'?

Narrative is the way in which the story is told by the narrator. The narrator is not always the same as the author or writer, whose voice sometimes intrudes through the narrative. Hardy made no conscious effort to distinguish author and narrator in his novels, but sometimes there is an unconscious difference that can lead to ambiguity or confusion. The author and the narrator sometimes do feel and believe slightly different things. But for all practical purposes at this stage, this is not something you need to analyse closely.

Narrative in this guide

Narrative is sometimes divided into style and structure. In this guide, structure will be looked at in a separate section. The section on narrative covers the following:

• Perspectives and viewpoint
• Leading in and out of the narrative
• Voice and tone
• Pace
• Style
• The use of letters
• Subtexts

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