Week 7: Visual Narrative and Media

What is narrative?

According to Infanger (2001), narrative is a general term associated with storymaking and storytelling and therefore is the common basis of human activity. Because most of the humanities involve stories, Huisman (2005) argue that narrative are “ways of structuring and representing lived experienced” (p. 27).

Narrative is also the product of our imagination- we create story either through fantasy or through representation of reality (that we observed and learn). Narrative can also be a product of culture, for example through myths, fairy tales, folktales that aimed to promote the dominant ideology, or common norms and values of a society. However stories also play important aspect of culture. Many works of art and most works of literature tell stories of culture and ancient origin. Narrative, and therefore story, is important component of human communication that used as parables or to illustrate points.

But defining narrative is not end there yet. To most linguists, the term 'narrative' is best understood as an 'art of structuring' or in Jon Franklin phrase, 'chronology with meaning'. It act as a tool or a way of ordering fictional or non-fictional events in sequence using dramatic and choronology as the main organizational elements. Narrative denotes a way of telling a story using series of events, characters (or actors), time and location. Therefore, to linguists, the central meaning of narrative is actually concerned with the overall construction of story.

Why is narrative important when shaping a visual image to the audience?

Narrative is a story but not all story has narrative in it – the same with visual images. Depends on what aim, purpose or central message the producer want to produce, the image must have narrative so that it can act as cues that will allow audience to understand and visually interpret the image story.

What is the story here?

What is the fox doing?

Narrative is the structure that gives shape to the story. Narrative structure is important because it involve "a selection of events from the characters life stories that is composed into a strategic sequence to arouse specific emotions and to express a specific view of life." (McKee, Story, 1997, pg. 33). Chatman (2004) also argue that narrative involve semiotic structure. Because experiencing narrative requires interpretation and 'filling in the gap'. This is a crucial element in story, that it is possible for the reader or viewer or inject their own interpretations, and supply extra details and imagery to what is being read or view.

When we look at the above painting, we saw a distant stranger couple 'talking' and there we perceive a story in progress. We may not know the story, but we know there is one. A cup on a table isn't just there, there is a story of how it got there. We know the fox image above was an observer's snapshot of a real living animal in mid movement. We could guess that the fox is or was chasing for its prey.

The basic premise of narrative in visual image is that a concept is created in sequential format to “tell a story” to someone else. Therefore, as a visual “story”, it must reveal information in orderly and 'scripted' fashion. A narrative structure is build in the image will enable the non-verbal story of visual image to unfold. According to Aristotle's Dramatic Structure, narrative is divided into three distinct part: (1) Beginning (to invite the viewer in), (2) Middle (to engage the viewer), and end (to provide closure). Through this, the viewer will immediately recognize the starting point , the main body and the ending point of the visual “story”.

The process of narrative in constructing story also involve certain elements, these include genre, subject, focalisation, temporality and duration. Genre refers to the 'type' of narrative which is being presented. Genre governs or directs a number of aspects of a specific narrative, such as its setting, what characters are involved, themes, values and issues and so on that fit into a genre. A particular text may stick to one genre, but may also combine elements from different genres. Genre also has many discourse. Subject, on the other hand, consist of the speaking subject (producer/author of the text or narrator) and the subject of speech (the first persons pronouns in the text i.e. characters in the story). The speaking subject can also be the subject of speech. Focalisation, on the other hand refers to 'point-of-focus' that helps a story to mediated from some perspectives. While temporality and duration, involve treatment of time within the narrative

The elements of narrative presented above are common to all narratives. Narrative is important because it allows audience to see not only the ways in which 'reality' is constructed within a story of visual image or text, but also the implications and effects of them being presented in that particular way.

References

Chatman, S. (2004). Story and Discourse. Retrieved October 29, 2010. From http://www.icosilune.com/2009/01/seymour-chatman-story-and-discourse/

Franklin, J. (1998). The Narrative Tool. Retrieved October 29, 2010. From http://www.asne.org/kiosk/editor/98.octnov/franklin1.htm

Huisman, R. (2005). Narrative concepts. In Fulton, H. Huisman, R. Murphet, J. and Dunn, A. (eds.), Narrative and Media (pp. 11-27). Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.

Infanger, S. (2001). What is Narrative? Retrieved October 29, 2010. From http://www.class.udaho.edu/narrative/theory/what narrative.htm

McKee, R. (1997). Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and The Principles of Screenwriting. New York: Regan Books.