Narrative and Poetics: The Structuralist Legacy of Gerard Genette

# Gerard Genette: Structuralism and Literary Criticism ## Introduction - Introduce Gerard Genette as a French literary theorist and critic, best known for his work on narrative theory and poetics - Explain what structuralism is and how it emerged as a major intellectual movement in the 20th century - Mention some of the main figures and concepts of structuralism, such as Ferdinand de Saussure, Claude Levi-Strauss, Roland Barthes, sign, signifier, signified, langue, parole, myth, etc. - State the main thesis of the article: how Genette applied structuralist methods and insights to the analysis of literary texts and genres, and what are his main contributions and innovations ## Genette's Narrative Theory - Explain what narrative theory is and why it is important for literary criticism - Discuss Genette's concept of narratology as the science of narrative structures and functions - Present Genette's typology of narrative levels: narrative instance (who narrates), narrative time (when narrates), narrative mood (how narrates), and narrative voice (from where narrates) - Explain Genette's distinction between story (what is narrated) and discourse (how is narrated), and his analysis of the different relations between them: order (chronology vs. anachrony), duration (speed vs. pause), frequency (singularity vs. repetition), and mode (distance vs. focalization) - Give some examples of how Genette's narrative theory can be applied to different types of narratives, such as novels, films, comics, etc. ## Genette's Poetics - Explain what poetics is and how it differs from aesthetics or criticism - Discuss Genette's concept of poetics as the study of the literary system and its transformations - Present Genette's typology of poetics: architextuality (the generic categories of literature), paratextuality (the elements that surround the text, such as titles, prefaces, illustrations, etc.), metatextuality (the relations between texts, such as commentary, quotation, parody, etc.), hypertextuality (the transformation of a text into another text, such as adaptation, imitation, translation, etc.), and intertextuality (the presence of one text within another text, such as allusion, reference, plagiarism, etc.) - Explain Genette's distinction between transtextuality (the general term for all textual relations) and intratextuality (the internal structure of a text) - Give some examples of how Genette's poetics can be applied to different types of texts and genres ## Conclusion - Summarize the main points of the article: how Genette used structuralism to develop a comprehensive and rigorous framework for analyzing literature - Evaluate Genette's achievements and limitations: what are his strengths and weaknesses as a literary theorist and critic - Discuss some of the criticisms and challenges that Genette faced or inspired from other scholars and schools of thought - Suggest some possible directions for further research or application of Genette's ideas ## FAQs - Who is Gerard Genette? - Gerard Genette is a French literary theorist and critic who was born in 1930. He is one of the founders of structuralist narratology and poetics. - What is structuralism? - Structuralism is an intellectual movement that emerged in the 20th century that aimed to uncover the underlying structures and systems that govern human culture and language. It was influenced by linguistics, anthropology, psychology, sociology, philosophy, etc. - What are some of the main concepts of structuralism? - Some of the main concepts of structuralism are sign (a unit of meaning composed of a signifier and a signified), langue (the system of rules that govern language), parole (the actual use of language), myth (a system of symbols that convey cultural values), etc. - What are some of the main contributions of Genette to literary theory and criticism? - Some of the main contributions of Genette to literary theory and criticism are his typologies of narrative levels (narrative instance, time, mood, voice), narrative relations (order, duration, frequency, mode), and poetics (architextuality, paratextuality, metatextuality, hypertextuality, intertextuality). - How can Genette's ideas be applied to different types of texts and genres? - Genette's ideas can be applied to different types of texts and genres by examining how they use and manipulate the various elements and relations of narrative and poetics. For example, one can analyze how a novel uses flashbacks, summaries, repetitions, focalizations, etc. to create a certain effect or meaning.

Gerard Genette Structuralism And Literary Criticism Summary

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