Hühn, Peter: "Event and Eventfulness". 04 Feb 2019. Hühn, Peter et al. (eds.): the living handbbook of narratology. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press. http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/lhn/index.php?title=Event_and_Eventfulness&oldid=1446

Event and Eventfulness

Last modified: 7 June 2011

Peter Hühn

   [1]
1 Definition

[2]
The term “event” refers to a change of state, one of the constitutive features of narrativity. We can distinguish between event I, a general type of event that has no special requirements, and event II, a type of event that satisfies certain additional conditions. A type I event is present for every change of state explicitly or implicitly represented in a text. A change of state qualifies as a type II event if it is accredited—in an interpretive, context-dependent decision—with certain features such as relevance, unexpectedness, and unusualness. The two types of event correspond to broad and narrow definitions of narrativity respectively: narration as the relation of changes of any kind and narration as the representation of changes with certain qualities.

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2 Explication

[4]
The concept of event has become prominent in recent work on narratology; it is generally used to help define narrativity in terms of the sequentiality inherent to the narrated story (→ Narrativity). This sequentiality involves changes of state in the represented world and thereby implies the presence of temporality time), which is a constitutive aspect of narration and distinguishes it from other forms of discourse such as description or argumentation.

[5]
The concept of event is used primarily in two contexts to define two basic types of narration: a type of narration that can be described linguistically and manifests itself in predicates that express changes (event I), on the one hand, an interpretation- and context-dependent type of narration that implies changes of a special kind (event II), on the other. Both categories are characterized by the presence of a change of state—the transition from one state (situation) to another, usually with reference to a character (agent or patient) or a group of characters. The difference between event I and event II lies in the degree of specificity of change to which they refer. Event I involves all kinds of change of state, whereas event II concerns a special kind of change that meets certain additional conditions in the sense, for example, of being a decisive, unpredictable turn in the narrated happenings, a deviation from the normal, expected course of things, as is implied by event in everyday language. Whether these additional conditions are met is a matter of interpretation; event II is therefore a hermeneutic category, unlike event I, which can largely be described objectively.

[6]
A type I event is linguistically expressed by the difference of predicates (Prince Prince, Gerald ([1987] 2003). A Dictionary of Narratology. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P.1987). A type II event, on the other hand, acquires the relevance and additional features that constitute it only with reference to intradiegetic expectations, to a literary or cultural context. It must, that is to say, be brought into being and related to its surroundings by an entity (character, narrator, or reader) that comprehends and interprets the change of state involved. Contextual reference of this kind can allow a type I event or a combination of type I events to be transformed into a type II event. Consider the following examples. In and of itself, the sentence “Eveline stepped onto the ship” contains a type I event; only as a result of reference (via character, narrator, or reader) to a social context does it acquire special relevance and thereby become a type II event in the sense of being a deviation from what is normal and expected (e.g. emigration as a new beginning). Next, take a historiographical narrative in which the French Revolution is treated in the context of long-term socio-political developments in France. If the historian here describes the Revolution as a type II event on the basis of the profound changes set in motion at the time, we are dealing with the transformation not of a single type I event, but of a multiplicity of type I events.

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The two types of event imply different definitions of narrativity, each with a different scope. The type I event is treated as a defining feature inherent to every kind of narrative (e.g. Prince Prince, Gerald ([1987] 2003). A Dictionary of Narratology. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P.1987; Herman Herman, David (2005). “Events and Event-Types.” D. Herman et al. (eds). Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory. London: Routledge, 151–52.2005); the type II event, on the other hand, is integral to a particular type of narrative, providing the foundation for its raison d’être, or tellability (Labov Labov, William (1972). Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P.1972; → Tellability). These two basic types of narrativity can be contrasted (drawing on Lotman Lotman, Jurij M. ([1970] 1977). The Structure of the Artistic Text. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P.1970) as plotless narration vs. narration that possesses plot, or as process narration vs. event-based narration. Type I events, largely objective and independent of interpretation, have been studied primarily in linguistics (Frawley Frawley, William (1992). Linguistic Semantics. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.1992), literary computing (Meister Meister, Jan Christoph (2003). Computing Action: A Narratological Approach. Berlin: de Gruyter.2003), and numerous stucturalist approaches (from the Russian formalists to the French and American narratologists of the 1960s to the 1970s). The concept of the type II event, on the other hand, has been discussed above all in the context of Lotman’s idea of plot concept, in research on everyday narratives (Labov Labov, William (1972). Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P.1972), in psychology (Bruner Bruner, Jerome (1991). “The Narrative Construction of Reality.” Critical Inquiry 18, 1–21.1991), in literary theory, and also in historiography (Suter & Hettling Suter, Andreas & Manfred Hettling (2001). “Struktur und Ereignis―Wege zu einer Sozialgeschichte des Ereignisses.” A. Suter & M. Hettling (eds). Struktur und Ereignis. Geschichte und Gesellschaft. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 7–32.2001; Rathmann Rathmann, Thomas (2003). “Ereignisse Konstrukte Geschichten.” Th. R. (ed). Ereignis: Konzeptionen eines Begriffs in Geschichte, Kunst und Literatur. Köln: Böhlau, 1–119.2003).

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3 History of the Concept and its Study

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3.1 The Concept of Event in the Poetics of the Tragedy and the Novella

[10]
The earliest theoretical conceptualization of type II eventfulness specifically refers to drama, Aristotle’s description, in Poetics (Halliwell Halliwell, Stephen (1987). The Poetics of Aristotle: Translation and Commentary. London: Duckworth.1987: chaps. X, XI, XIII), of the plot in tragedies as defined by a decisive turning point. He distinguishes three types of change which singly or—ideally—combined constitute a tragic plot: reversal (peripeteia); recognition (anagnorisis); and suffering (pathos). While peripeteia is to be understood as the formal designation of eventful change, anagnorisis and pathos specify its concrete―cognitive and existential―manifestations. The tragic hero thus undergoes a (primarily negative) eventful change from prosperity to adversity, but also from ignorance to knowledge.

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As to narrative fiction proper, there is a close connection between the event II concept and the genesis and development of the novella genre, implicitly with respect to plot structure and explicitly, if rarely and only at a late stage, with respect to poetological reflection. The relevant authors include, above all, Boccaccio and Goethe. In Boccaccio’s Decameron, the plot frequently involves the violation of a prohibition or the crossing of a boundary imposed by moral norms (the affirmation of sexuality) or the social order (the flaunting of class differences). This implies a revolt against literary tradition (Pabst Pabst, Walter (1953). Novellentheorie und Novellendichtung: Zur Geschichte ihrer Antinomie in den romanischen Literaturen. Hamburg: Cram, de Gruyter.1953: 1–7). The power of natural desire, frequently assisted by the role of chance, leads to an anarchic break with the established order that has the character of an event (Schlaffer Schlaffer, Hannelore (1993). Poetik der Novelle. Stuttgart: Metzler.1993: 22–3). The obvious eventfulness of the narratives, however, is not as such a theme of the author’s theoretical statements (to be found in the introductory passages); it is instead hidden behind his apologetic stance, which plays down the disruption of norms by diverting attention to the inferiority of the genre (with its orality, colloquial language, conversational style, and function of providing entertainment; Pabst Pabst, Walter (1953). Novellentheorie und Novellendichtung: Zur Geschichte ihrer Antinomie in den romanischen Literaturen. Hamburg: Cram, de Gruyter.1953: 27–41, esp. 37). Contrasting with the cases of eventfulness, however, we also find narratives aligned with the medieval exemplum tradition. In this respect, the genre term “novella” is not specific; it refers to what is new, but also to trivial and contemporary affairs, frequently presented with the help of earlier subject matter.

[12]
Eventfulness II is first mentioned explicitly as a defining feature of the Novelle by Goethe and participants in the German Novelle debate of the 19th century, although they refer only to certain aspects of it and then only in a formulaic manner (Swales Swales, Martin (1977). The German ‘Novelle.’ Princeton: Princeton UP.1977: 16, 21–6; Aust [Aust, Hugo ([1990] 2006). Novelle. Stuttgart: Metzler.1990] 2006: 26–36). The most concise formulation is to be found in Goethe’s conversations with Eckermann (29 January 1827): “what is a Novelle if not an unheard-of occurrence [Begebenheit] that has taken place.” These words stress both the exceptional nature of an event and its special, singular character of facticity (Perels Perels, Christoph (1998). “Der Begriff der Begebenheit in Goethes Bemerkungen zur Erzählkunst.” Ch. P. Goethe in seiner Epoche. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 177–89.1998: 179–80, 181–89): in Goethe’s usage, Begebenheit means a disquieting, decisive turn that takes place in the public sphere or is significant in constituting the subject (cf. “Begebenheit,” in Goethe Wörterbuch Goethe Wörterbuch (1989). 2 Vols. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.1989). This is also the sense in which the term is used in the Conversations of German Refugees (Goethe [Goethe, Johann W. von ([1795] 1960). Goethes Werke. Vol. VI: Romane und Novellen. Eds. B. v. Wiese & E. Trunz. Hamburg: Wegner.1795] 1960: 188).

[13]
In the 19th century, Tieck and Heyse stand out for making the event the defining property of the Novelle in their turning point and falcon theories respectively. Tieck describes the central feature of the Novelle as the “turn in the story, that point at which it unexpectedly begins to take an entirely new course” (1829, reprinted in Kunz ed. [Kunz, Josef, ed. ([1968] 1973). Novelle. Darmstadt: WBG.1968] 1973: 53). Heyse highlights the anomalous, the unusual as a defining feature of the event, especially in his reference to the falcon (drawn from a Boccaccio novella), in which he says that “the story, not the states, the event, not the world-view reflected in it, are what matters here,” and “the ‘falcon’ [is] the special quality that distinguishes this story from a thousand others” (1871, reprinted in Kunz ed. [Kunz, Josef, ed. ([1968] 1973). Novelle. Darmstadt: WBG.1969] 1973: 67–8; italics in original).

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3.2 The Concept of Event in the Context of Tellability and the “Point of the Narrative”

[15]
The event II concept has played no more than a peripheral role in narrative studies to date. Aspects of the phenomenon, however, have been highlighted in other contexts and in the guise of different terminology. Discussions of tellability and the “point of the narrative” (Labov Labov, William (1972). Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P.1972: 366) are the main examples of such contexts; they have led to the suggestion that events are one of the reasons why stories are narrated. An early approach to describing narrative noteworthiness, in which the term “tellability” was introduced, was put forward by Labov (Labov, William (1972). Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P.1972: 363–70) in his study of everyday narratives. He used evaluation (366–75) as a category for covering the means that the narrator uses to mark what he calls the point of the narrative, its raison d’être. These include external evaluation (direct identification), embedding (of utterances of a character or the narrator in the narrated happenings), evaluative action (in which case emotional involvement in the decisive action is reported), and evaluation by suspension of the action (in which case the central aspect is highlighted by interrupting the reported action). Pratt (Pratt, Mary Louise (1977). Towards a Speech Act Theory of Literary Discourse. Bloomington: Indiana UP.1977: 63–78) transfers Labov’s approach to literature and shows that his categories apply to literary narrative texts as well; the tellability of a literary narrative, she suggests, is also dependent on the presence of deviation from what is normal and on the relevance of such deviation (132–51).

[16]
In contrast to Labov’s concentration on mediation techniques, Ryan (Ryan, Marie-Laure (1991). Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, and Narrative Theory. Bloomington: Indiana UP.1991: 148–66) develops a theory of tellability concerning the level of the narrated happenings. Particularly relevant to eventfulness is her distinction between three types of progression in the narrated happenings (155–56): (a) sudden switches in the plot, contrasts between the goals and results of characters’ actions, and self-contradiction; (b) repetition of narrative sequences (e.g. the three wishes or three attempts found in fairy tales); and (c) elements of the narrated happenings that have multiple meanings (e.g. the marriage of Oedipus and Jocasta functions as a reward, as a case of incest, and as the fulfillment of a prophecy). In a second take on this issue, Ryan defines tellability in terms of the complexity of the plot sequences that she situates in an “underlying system of purely virtual embedded narratives” (156)—in, that is to say, a network of realized and alternative, unrealized (desired, rejected, imagined) courses of action. In this way, as with event II, but without the term itself being used, the tellability of a story is derived from the structure of its course and the complexity of that structure. However, the equation of structural complexity with tellability is problematic, as is the isolation of textual structures from (cultural, literary) contexts. As a result, the definitions involved remain unspecific; for it is questionable whether complex texts are tellable simply because they are complex, and whether tellability is really determined by the text alone.

[17]
A different kind of approach to defining tellability turns to conventionalized genres rather than individual stories in its study of the crucial points in plot development, which it examines in terms of structural switches or contrasts. Kock (Kock, Christian (1978). “Narrative Tropes: A study of points in plots.” G. D. Caie et al. (eds). Occasional Papers 1976–1977. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, 202–52.1978) represents an example of such an approach. He draws a direct link between the interest that genres such as tragedy, the story of quest or trickery in the fairy tale, and the detective novel awake in the reader and the genre-specific plot structures of those genres. Kock describes the plot structures concerned with the help of the concept of the narrative trope, which he uses to refer to aspects of the narrated happenings that have two functions, thereby generating tension between two levels (intention vs. outcome, appearances vs. reality, surface vs. depth, etc.), and thus serve as the central motivation for reading. An example of this occurs when the protagonist in a tragic or comic text unwittingly brings about a setback through his own actions. This approach does, it is true, identify the crucial switches or changes in the genres in question, but it too is nonetheless vulnerable to the criticism outlined above regarding a definition of eventfulness that is based purely on textual structure-cultural dependency, like the relevance of text-internal norms, is ignored.

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3.3 The Concept of Event in Historiographical Theory

[19]
The concept of event has a long, albeit changeable heritage in historiography. The event, which usually lacked the foundations of an explicit definition, was an accepted historiographical category until the turn of the 19th century. Thereafter, however, it was subjected to increasing theoretical criticism, first in France, later in Germany, too (Rathmann Rathmann, Thomas (2003). “Ereignisse Konstrukte Geschichten.” Th. R. (ed). Ereignis: Konzeptionen eines Begriffs in Geschichte, Kunst und Literatur. Köln: Böhlau, 1–119.2003: 3–11). This criticism, marked by concern for scientific accuracy, was directed at aspects of the historical event that depend on interpretation: its singularity; its instantaneous nature; and the involvement of the subject. Event-based history was superseded by structural history and the history of ordinary life. Long-term tendencies, processes, structures, collective mentalities, and superindividual regularities were now the object of attention. However, a renaissance of the event can be observed in recent historiography; one factor at work here is the realization that events are an irrefutably relevant aspect of historical processes. Historical changes do not take place simply because of structural conditions; they are set in motion as unpredictable and unique occurrences by individuals and individual actions (Rathmann Rathmann, Thomas (2003). “Ereignisse Konstrukte Geschichten.” Th. R. (ed). Ereignis: Konzeptionen eines Begriffs in Geschichte, Kunst und Literatur. Köln: Böhlau, 1–119.2003; Suter & Hettling Suter, Andreas & Manfred Hettling (2001). “Struktur und Ereignis―Wege zu einer Sozialgeschichte des Ereignisses.” A. Suter & M. Hettling (eds). Struktur und Ereignis. Geschichte und Gesellschaft. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 7–32.2001; see also the volumes edited by these scholars).

[20]
The definition of eventfulness proposed in this context displays affinities with the narratological concept of the type II event (3.4 below). Suter & Hettling (Suter, Andreas & Manfred Hettling (2001). “Struktur und Ereignis―Wege zu einer Sozialgeschichte des Ereignisses.” A. Suter & M. Hettling (eds). Struktur und Ereignis. Geschichte und Gesellschaft. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 7–32.2001: 24–5) use three criteria to distinguish events from simple happenings: (a) contemporaries must experience a sequence of actions as disquieting and breaking with expectations; (b) the grounds on which the sequence of actions is considered surprising and disquieting must be collective in nature—part, that is, of a social horizon of expectations; and (c) the sequence of actions must result in structural changes that are perceived and discursively processed by those involved. Rathmann (Rathmann, Thomas (2003). “Ereignisse Konstrukte Geschichten.” Th. R. (ed). Ereignis: Konzeptionen eines Begriffs in Geschichte, Kunst und Literatur. Köln: Böhlau, 1–119.2003: 12–4) argues that fulfillment of criterion (c) alone, without criteria (a) and (b), is enough to constitute an event if the change is presented and discursively mediated as a case of major upheaval. This definition seeks to connect structure and the event, long held to be incompatible with one another, as mutually dependent categories.

[21]
The affinities with the narratological type II event lie in contextual reference, the importance of deviation, the role of relevance, the need for interpretation and perception, and the discursive foundations of the event. Differences exist regarding the point of reference, however: Suter & Hettling and Rathmann suggest primarily that reference is made to the consciousness of contemporaries, whereas narratologists distinguish various points of reference: a change can be eventful for characters, the narrator, the abstract author, or the intended (or actual) reader. Equally, though, since incidents may turn out to be eventful only in retrospect, the historian or a later generation can be postulated as a possible frame of reference in the case of historical events.

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3.4 Discussion of the Concept of Event in Literary Theory

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The use of the concept of event to define narrativity in the debates of literary theory supersedes (in most cases earlier) attempts to capture the special quality of narration by referring to the role of mediation (e.g. Friedemann Friedemann, Käte ([1910] 1965). Die Rolle des Erzählers in der Epik. Darmstadt: WBG.1910; Stanzel Stanzel, Franz ([1955] 1971). Narrative Situations in the Novel: Tom Jones, Moby-Dick, The Ambassadors, Ulysses. Bloomington: Indiana UP.1955; → Mediacy and Narrative Mediation). Event-based approaches are supported by the insight that, although representations in language or other media—narratives, for example, but also descriptions and arguments—are always mediated, narration alone is set apart from other forms of discourse by the fact that what is represented is marked by temporality (Sternberg Sternberg, Meir (2001). “How Narrativity Makes a Difference.” Narrative 9, 115–22.2001: 115; Schmid Schmid, Wolf (2003). “Narrativity and Eventfulness.” T. Kindt & H.-H. Müller (eds). What Is Narratology? Questions and Answers Regarding the Status of a Theory. Berlin: de Gruyter, 17–33.2003, Schmid, Wolf (2005). Elemente der Narratologie. Berlin: de Gruyter.2005: 11–6). Accordingly, the representation of a change (of state, of situation, of a form of behavior) that takes place in time has been identified as constitutive of narration, as in Ryan’s (Ryan, Marie-Laure (1991). Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, and Narrative Theory. Bloomington: Indiana UP.1991: 124) explanation of her “narrative as state-transition diagram”: “the most widely accepted claim about the nature of narrative is that it represents a chronologically ordered sequence of states and events.” Similarly Herman (Herman, David (2005). “Events and Event-Types.” D. Herman et al. (eds). Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory. London: Routledge, 151–52.2005: 151): “Events, conceived as time- and place-specific transitions from some source state S […] to some target state S’ […], are thus a prerequisite for narrative.” Approaches to a definition that are based on changes in time can be divided into two basic types (cf. “Explication” above): event I (general changes of any kind) and event II (changes that meet further qualitative conditions).

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3.4.1 Event I

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The approaches to defining narrativity based on event I are many and varied. Numerous theorists define the minimal story or identify the event as a basic element of narration in the context of an operational explication of the phenomenon of change of state. This is the background against which Prince (Prince, Gerald (1973). A Grammar of Stories: An Introduction. The Hague: Mouton.1973: 31) describes changes as causal-chronological sequences of three elements: “A minimal story consists of three conjoined events: The first and third events are stative, the second active. Furthermore, the third event is the inverse of the first.” “Event” here refers to stative and dynamic states of affairs (17). In a later take on the issue, in his programmatic definition of a minimal story, Prince ([Prince, Gerald ([1987] 2003). A Dictionary of Narratology. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P.1987] 2003: 28; emphasis in original) uses event to mean a change: “event. a change of STATE manifested in DISCOURSE by a process statement in the mode of Do or Happen.” Stempel (Stempel, Wolf-Dieter (1973). “Erzählung, Beschreibung und der historische Diskurs.” R. Koselleck & W.-D. Stempel (eds). Geschichte―Ereignis und Erzählung. München: Fink, 325–45.1973: 328–30) defines the minimal narrative schema syntactically as a sequence of sentential statements that meet the following conditions: the subjects must have the same reference; it must be possible to contrast and correlate the predicates; and the predicates must be chronologically ordered. The same idea of the event is put forward, on a higher level of abstraction, by Meister (Meister, Jan Christoph (2003). Computing Action: A Narratological Approach. Berlin: de Gruyter.2003: 116; emphasis in original): “by an EVENT we understand the attribution of distinct properties to an identical event object under a stable EVENT FOCUS” (the term “event focus” refers to the point of reference for the change involved).

[26]
Todorov (Todorov, Tzvetan (1971). “The 2 Principles of Narrative.” Diacritics 1, 37–44.1971: 39) defines change in time as a necessary component of narration by referring to two principles of narrative: successiveness and transformation. By further distinguishing between different kinds of transformation, he arrives at a typology of narrative organization that should be understood as involving different kinds of event: mythological, gnoseological, and ideological transformations—changes, that is, involving situation, cognition, or behavioral norms (40, 42). With respect to the basic elements of the structure of narrative progression, Todorov ([Todorov, Tzvetan ([1968] 1977). “The Grammar of Narrative.” T. T. The Poetics of Prose. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 108–19.1968] 1977: 111) proposes a three-stage configuration: initial equilibrium—destabilization—new equilibrium. Bremond ([Bremond, Claude ([1966] 1980). “The Logic of Narrative Possibilities.” New Literary History 11, 387–411.1966] 1980: 387–88) sets out a more flexible dynamic way of modeling change in which alternatives are also considered. He puts forward the idea of a three-part elementary sequence of events leading from the virtuality (of a goal or an expectation), via the act of (non-)actualization, to manifest (non-)realization, the attainment or non-attainment of the goal, with amelioration or degradation as variants of change (390–92).

[27]
Ryan (Ryan, Marie-Laure (1991). Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, and Narrative Theory. Bloomington: Indiana UP.1991: 127–47) uses a similar kind of sequential structure with multiple stages to classify events with reference to the causes or driving forces behind them, particularly in terms of the level of intentionality involved. Actions are contrasted with happenings (changes with and without human causation respectively) and moves with passive moves (plan-based action and lack of action, respectively, as conflict resolution). Ryan’s system also includes outcomes (the successes or failures that result from actions) and plans (the planning of actions). The study of linguistics has witnessed comparable efforts to draw up predicate-based typologies of events or their components. Examples include Frawley (Frawley, William (1992). Linguistic Semantics. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.1992: 182–95), who distinguishes between statives, actives, inchoatives, and resultatives, and Vendler (Vendler, Zeno (1967). Linguistics in Philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell UP.1967), who distinguishes between activity, accomplishment, achievement, and state. Drawing on Frawley and Vendler, Herman (Herman, David (2002). Story Logic: Problems and Possibilities of Narrative. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P.2002: 27–51) refers to the selection and linking of such event components in an attempt to define individual narrative genres (e.g. the epic, newspaper articles, ghost stories) in terms of their event structures. The undertaking is not a convincing success, for it seems likely that the specific type of eventfulness associated with a genre can be identified only hermeneutically—in terms of event II, that is—rather than on a linguistic level. It is also questionable whether the distinctive nature of a genre can be delineated so clearly from that of other genres or be captured in simple, general formulas of this kind.

[28]
All these different ways of conceptualizing event I have two features in common. (a) If they define narrativity in terms of temporality, they do so with reference to the presence of change on the level of the represented happenings. The necessity of linguistic mediation is highlighted in the process, but in the vast majority of cases this implies reference to changes in the narrated world alone, not to changes on the level of discourse (presentation). The proposals regarding sentence-based definitions (Stempel Stempel, Wolf-Dieter (1973). “Erzählung, Beschreibung und der historische Diskurs.” R. Koselleck & W.-D. Stempel (eds). Geschichte―Ereignis und Erzählung. München: Fink, 325–45.1973; Todorov Todorov, Tzvetan ([1968] 1977). “The Grammar of Narrative.” T. T. The Poetics of Prose. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 108–19.1968; Prince Prince, Gerald (1973). A Grammar of Stories: An Introduction. The Hague: Mouton.1973, Prince, Gerald ([1987] 2003). A Dictionary of Narratology. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P.1987) are no different in this respect. In the terminology of Meister (Meister, Jan Christoph (2003). Computing Action: A Narratological Approach. Berlin: de Gruyter.2003: 107–08, 114–16), we are dealing with object events, which he distinguishes from what he refers to as discourse events, wherein the changes take place on the discourse level; the difference, though, concerns merely the recipient’s acts of cognitive interpretation involving the events. At any rate, all these definitions seek to achieve an objectivizing operationalization of the definition of the event on the basis of linguistic expressions without considering the scope of reference to literary contexts and normative social contexts as a source of meaning. The hermeneutic role of the reader, that is to say, is excluded. (b) If different types of event are distinguished from one another, the aim is either to provide no more than a qualitative classification of kinds of change or to distinguish between different types of narrative on the basis of such a classification (which, however, is inadequate as far as the dimension of meaning is concerned). It was recognized at an early date (Culler Culler, Jonathan (1975). Structuralist Poetics: Structuralism, Linguistics and the Study of Literature. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.1975: 205–07; Chatman Chatman, Seymour (1978). Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca: Cornell UP.1978: 92–5) that the crucial processes and aspects of meaning in narrative texts cannot be grasped by means of categories, such as these, that can be formalized independently of interpretation and context.

   [29]
3.4.2 Event II

[30]
Use of the concept of event in literary theory requires that type II events meet certain additional conditions. Such conditions have been identified from various perspectives, which will now be reviewed not in historical order but systematically, progressing from approaches concerned with definition to ones involving methodology and analysis, in particular Lotman’s plot model, which has proved particularly productive in practice.

[31]
In his discussion of the role of narration in structuring reality as part of human existence, Bruner (Bruner, Jerome (1991). “The Narrative Construction of Reality.” Critical Inquiry 18, 1–21.1991) draws attention to all the central dimensions of eventfulness involved in event II: the hermeneutic component; the modality of deviation; the place of norms as a point of reference; and context sensitivity. Bruner uses the idea of “hermeneutic composability” (7–11) to stress the fact that stories do not exist in the world, but depend for their existence on human consciousness to provide the horizon against which they stand. He uses the phrase “canonicity and breach” (11–3) to describe how a precipitating event, resulting in a break with expectations, a deviation from what is normal and from routine scripts, is a necessary condition of tellability. Breaks of this kind always involve norms (15–6). Finally, these features give rise to the context sensitivity (16–8) that makes real-world narration “such a viable instrument for cultural negotiation” (17).

[32]
In order to distinguish event II from event I, Schmid (Schmid, Wolf (2003). “Narrativity and Eventfulness.” T. Kindt & H.-H. Müller (eds). What Is Narratology? Questions and Answers Regarding the Status of a Theory. Berlin: de Gruyter, 17–33.2003, Schmid, Wolf (2005). Elemente der Narratologie. Berlin: de Gruyter.2005: 20–7) defines additional criteria that a change of state must fulfill in order to qualify as an event in this narrower sense. First, facticity and resultativity are specified as necessary conditions. Eventfulness, that is to say, requires that a change actually take place (rather than being simply desired or imagined) and that it reach a conclusion (rather than having simply begun or being in progress). These binary conditions are supplemented by five properties that can be present to different degrees and must also be displayed by a change, if it is to qualify as eventful in the manner of a type II event. Changes, that is to say, are more or less eventful depending on the extent to which these five properties are present. Specifically, the criteria are those of relevance (significance in the represented world), unpredictability (deviation from what is expected, from the principles of the general order of the world), effect (implications of the change for the character concerned or the narrated world), irreversibility (persistence and irrevocability of the change’s consequences), and non-iterativity (singularity of the change).

[33]
In theory, the necessary conditions of facticity and resultativity are binary and context-independent, whereas the nature and magnitude of the five additional criteria are predominantly dependent on cultural, historical, or literary contexts and can be interpreted in different ways by the various participants in narrative communication (→ Author, → Narrator, → Characters, → Reader). The extent to which a change in the narrated world qualifies as significant, unpredictable, momentous, or irreversible depends on the established system of norms, the conventional ideas about the nature of society and reality, current in any given case, but also on literary, e.g. genre-specific, conventions, and can therefore vary historically between different mentalities and cultures. This is ultimately true of facticity and resultativity as conditions for full type II eventfulness, too. In certain historical cultural contexts, changes that are only imagined or not fully realized can acquire (reduced) eventful status in so far as the act of imagining, planning, or similar functions as a sign of a (beginning or faltering) change in a character.

[34]
The relevance of a change can be evaluated differently from different standpoints. Thus, the level of relevance often differs depending on whether the point of reference is the real author, the narrator, or one or more characters. In the case of unpredictability, we must distinguish the expectations of protagonists from the scripts of author and reader. What for a hero is an unpredictable event can for the reader be a central part of a genre’s script. These criteria allow the role of interpretation, the modality of deviation, context sensitivity, and the relevance of norms, as also suggested by Bruner, to be broken down into a spread of features.

[35]
Lotman’s plot model (Lotman, Jurij M. ([1970] 1977). The Structure of the Artistic Text. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P.1970) offers a comprehensive approach that combines a context-sensitive and norm-related concept of type II eventfulness with a practical apparatus for analyzing texts in terms of their event structures (Titzmann Titzmann, Michael (2003). “Semiotische Aspekte der Literaturwissenschaft: Literatursemiotik.” R. Posner et al. (eds). Semiotik / Semiotics. Berlin: de Gruyter, vol. 3, 3028–103.2003: 3077–84; Hauschild Hauschild, Christiane (2009). “Jurij M. Lotmans semiotischer Ereignisbegriff: Versuch einer Neubewertung.” W. Schmid (ed). Slavische Erzähltheorie. Russische und tschechische Ansätze. Berlin: de Gruyter, 141–86.2009). Lotman explicitly distinguishes two kinds of event: a basic concept of event of the event I variety, described as “the smallest indivisible unit of plot construction” (Lotman [Lotman, Jurij M. ([1970] 1977). The Structure of the Artistic Text. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P.1970] 1977: 233), and a concept of event of the event II variety, assembled on a higher level, which he defines in terms of spatial semantics as a “unit of plot construction,” writing that “an event in a text is the shifting of a persona across the borders of a semantic field” (233). By plot, Lotman means an eventful action sequence with three components: “1) some semantic field divided into two mutually complementary subsets; 2) the border between these subsets, which under normal circumstances is impenetrable, though in a given instance (a text with a plot always deals with a given instance) it proves to be penetrable for the hero-agent; 3) the hero-agent” (240; emphasis in original). A semantic field represents a normative order, subdivided like any other order into two binary subsets, set apart, that is, from what it is not. Lotman uses topological terms as the basis for his definition of an event, but he stresses the normative relevance of the definition by pointing out that normative values (e.g. good vs. evil, ruling vs. serving, valuable vs. worthless) tend to be described using spatial images and oppositions (e.g. above vs. below, right vs. left, open vs. closed, near vs. far, moving vs. stationary). Thus, Lotman’s spatial semantics should be understood as a metaphor for non-spatial, normative complexes.

[36]
The concept of the semantic field is shaped by Lotman’s belief that artistic language represents a “secondary modeling system” (9), that is, that its function in creating world structure is culturally and historically specific and in this respect embodies the link between text and context. In this way, Lotman takes the semantic field with its binary subdivisions as a point of reference for establishing and elucidating the normative dimension of eventfulness and also its dependence on cultural and social historical contexts. Whether or not a change (e.g. the marriage of a female servant and a nobleman) is eventful depends on the historically variable class structure of society (such a marriage was eventful in 18th-century England; it would be so to a far lesser degree, if at all, in the 21st century). Determining eventfulness is therefore a hermeneutic process.

[37]
Lotman defines as plotless a text that simply describes a normative framework and anchors the characters in both subspaces without the possibility of change—a text, that is to say, whose only function is one of classification. By adding the mobility of one or several characters, a boundary crossing, to this plotless substrate, a text that possesses plot is created and an event produced (237–38). An event therefore represents a violation of the established order, a deviation from the norm, in extreme cases a “revolutionary event” (238). The boundary between the subsets can, according to how strict the system of norms is and how stable its order, be more or less impermeable, making it possible for events to have different levels of eventfulness, to be positioned at various points on the plot scale (236).

[38]
Lotman’s plot model provides a powerful set of tools that makes it possible to describe with precision the many forms and degrees of eventfulness in narrative texts. The protagonist, for example, can be integrated into the second semantic subset, and thereby become immobile, after the boundary crossing has taken place; but he can also return to the first subset and negate the event (meaning that the established order and norms are affirmed) or remain in motion, set forth again, and go through another important change, triggering a realignment of field structure (what was the second subset becomes the first subset of a new overall and differently defined field; 240–41).

[39]
Renner (Renner, Karl Nikolaus (1983). Der Findling: Eine Erzählung von Heinrich von Kleist und ein Film von George Moorse. Prinzipien einer adäquaten Wiedergabe narrativer Strukturen. München: Fink.1983, Renner, Karl Nikolaus (2004). “Grenze und Ereignis: Weiterführende Überlegungen zum Ereigniskonzept von J. M. Lotman.” G. Frank & W. Lukas (eds). Norm―Grenze―Abweichung: Kultursemiotische Studien zu Literatur, Medien und Wirtschaft. Passau: Stutz, 357–81.2004), Titzmann (Titzmann, Michael (2003). “Semiotische Aspekte der Literaturwissenschaft: Literatursemiotik.” R. Posner et al. (eds). Semiotik / Semiotics. Berlin: de Gruyter, vol. 3, 3028–103.2003), and Krah (Krah, Hans (1999). “Räume, Grenzen, Grenzüberschreitungen: Einführende Überlegungen.” Kodikas/Code 22, 3–12.1999) seek to increase the practical suitability of Lotman’s model for textual analysis by refining its concepts and formalizing its categories. Renner (Renner, Karl Nikolaus (1983). Der Findling: Eine Erzählung von Heinrich von Kleist und ein Film von George Moorse. Prinzipien einer adäquaten Wiedergabe narrativer Strukturen. München: Fink.1983, Renner, Karl Nikolaus (2004). “Grenze und Ereignis: Weiterführende Überlegungen zum Ereigniskonzept von J. M. Lotman.” G. Frank & W. Lukas (eds). Norm―Grenze―Abweichung: Kultursemiotische Studien zu Literatur, Medien und Wirtschaft. Passau: Stutz, 357–81.2004) reformulates Lotman’s spatial metaphor in terms of set theory, describing the normative regularities of the semantic space as a set of “ordering statements” so that spatial change can be redefined as a successive process of disruption, removal, or replacement of such ordering statements. This picture of how the boundary crossing takes place provides a more precise impression of it as a potentially progressive, as opposed to instantaneous, phenomenon. An important prerequisite for this refinement lies in the observation that spaces are not homogeneous but can display a graded structure with respect to their ordering principles: at some stage, changing position within the space, the protagonist, because of his cumulative opposition to the dominant ordering statements, reaches an extreme point that qualifies as an event (the extreme point rule). It is questionable, however, whether Renner’s extreme formalization of Lotman’s categories really represents a step forward for analysis in practice. Titzmann (Titzmann, Michael (2003). “Semiotische Aspekte der Literaturwissenschaft: Literatursemiotik.” R. Posner et al. (eds). Semiotik / Semiotics. Berlin: de Gruyter, vol. 3, 3028–103.2003) puts forward two additional categories to supplement those of Lotman. First, he introduces the concept of the meta-event, which involves not only the passage of the protagonist from the first to the second subset as a result of his boundary crossing, but also the modification of the entire field, the world order itself (if, for example, the boundary crossing results in the social opposition between the subsets being reconfigured as a morally defined division in the field). Second, Titzmann introduces the concept of the modalization of semantic spaces, which accounts for the fact that it is possible for subsets to differ from one another in terms of their modality (as dreams, fantasies, wishes contrasting with reality). Subcategories of spatial opposition and boundary crossing, in particular, are suggested by Krah (Krah, Hans (1999). “Räume, Grenzen, Grenzüberschreitungen: Einführende Überlegungen.” Kodikas/Code 22, 3–12.1999: 7–9) in the context of a closer study of certain aspects of the concept of space. Subspaces can represent autonomous alternatives in formal terms, or they can be related to one another functionally as contrastive spaces or by their relationship to a certain standpoint (system/environment, inside/outside). Spatial subdivisions can also be conceptually defined in many ways, in terms, for example, of nature vs. culture, home vs. foreign, normality vs. deviation, past vs. present, everyday vs. exotic, as well as from a gender-specific perspective. An event can take place in the form of a boundary crossing by a character in which that character retains his features unchanged or, alternatively, adopts opposing ones (adapts to the other field); or an event can also—as a meta-event (Titzmann Titzmann, Michael (2003). “Semiotische Aspekte der Literaturwissenschaft: Literatursemiotik.” R. Posner et al. (eds). Semiotik / Semiotics. Berlin: de Gruyter, vol. 3, 3028–103.2003)—take place as a transformation of the spatial opposition. This corresponds to forms of event-leveling (by which Krah means ways of continuing after an event has taken place): return to the initial space, absorption into the opposing space, or metaleveling (retracting the reorganization of the spatial opposition). Typologies of this kind allow the phenomenon of eventfulness to be identified more precisely in texts, thereby supplying a prerequisite for a closer analysis of it.

[40]
Members of the Narratology Research Group in Hamburg have combined Lotman’s plot and concept of events with schema theory (→ Schemata) to produce a text model designed around narrative theory and a practical model for narratological analysis that includes a detailed typology of events (Hühn & Schönert Hühn, Peter & Jörg Schönert (2002). “Zur narratologischen Analyse von Lyrik.” Poetica 34, 287–305.2002; Hühn & Kiefer Hühn, Peter & Jens Kiefer (2005). The Narratological Analysis of Lyric Poetry: Studies in English Poetry from 16th to the 20th Century. Berlin: de Gruyter.2005; Hühn Hühn, Peter (2005). “Plotting the Lyric: Forms of Narration in Poetry.” E. Müller-Zettelmann & M. Rubik (eds). Theory into Poetry: New Approaches to the Lyric. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 147–72.2005, Hühn, Peter (2008). “Functions and Forms of Eventfulness in Narrative Fiction.” J. Pier & J. Á. García Landa (eds). Theorizing Narrativity. Berlin: de Gruyter, 141–63.2008; Schönert et al. Schönert, Jörg, et al. (2007). Lyrik und Narratologie: Text-Analysen zu deutschsprachigen Gedichten vom 16. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert. Berlin: de Gruyter.2007). Reference is made to lyric poetry on the one hand, to narrative literature on the other. The approach stresses the fact that eventfulness is dependent on cultural and historical context, and it proposes that the relevant contexts be treated in terms of the schemata (frames and scripts) called to mind and activated by the text—that is, the meaning-bearing cultural or literary patterns relevant in each case (such as conventional patterns for how to proceed in choosing a partner, etc., or literary, genre-specific plot schemata). The presence of eventfulness results from deviation from a script, from a break with expectations. With this in mind, schema theory (whose script concept makes it possible to model processes of change) and plot theory in the Lotman style (which uses the boundary crossing to model deviation and break with the norm) can be combined in the search for a precise definition of eventfulness (Hühn Hühn, Peter (2008). “Functions and Forms of Eventfulness in Narrative Fiction.” J. Pier & J. Á. García Landa (eds). Theorizing Narrativity. Berlin: de Gruyter, 141–63.2008). As levels of deviation can be more or less pronounced, eventfulness is not an absolute quality, but relative and a matter of degree: a text can be more or less eventful depending on the amount of deviation involved (Schmid Schmid, Wolf (2003). “Narrativity and Eventfulness.” T. Kindt & H.-H. Müller (eds). What Is Narratology? Questions and Answers Regarding the Status of a Theory. Berlin: de Gruyter, 17–33.2003, Schmid, Wolf (2005). Elemente der Narratologie. Berlin: de Gruyter.2005).

[41]
Eventful changes involve a participant in the action (an agent or a patient) and can be located on various levels of textual structure (→ Narrative Levels). Correspondingly, three types of event can be distinguished (Hühn, in Hühn & Kiefer Hühn, Peter & Jens Kiefer (2005). The Narratological Analysis of Lyric Poetry: Studies in English Poetry from 16th to the 20th Century. Berlin: de Gruyter.2005: 246–51, Hühn, Peter (2008). “Functions and Forms of Eventfulness in Narrative Fiction.” J. Pier & J. Á. García Landa (eds). Theorizing Narrativity. Berlin: de Gruyter, 141–63.2008). In events in the happenings, the crucial change affects the protagonist on the level of the narrated happenings, i.e. one or more characters in the narrated world. Presentation events involve the extradiegetic level, since they concern the narratorial figure as an agent, the story of the narrator (Schmid Schmid, Wolf (1982). “Die narrativen Ebenen ‘Geschehen,’ ‘Geschichte,’ ‘Erzählung’ und ‘Präsentation der Erzählung’.” Wiener Slawistischer Almanach 9, 83–110.1982). In reception events, the crucial change takes place neither on the level of the happenings nor on that of presentation, since its occurrence involves neither the protagonist nor the narrator as agent. Instead, it must be enacted by the (ideal) reader in place of the protagonist or the narrator because they are unwilling or unable to do so, as in the dramatic monologue (Browning, Tennyson) or in Joyce’s Dubliners. In such cases, a full expression of the event is distinctively omitted from the text. This prompts readers to undergo an eventful mental change or arrive at a decisive increase in understanding—in both cases ‘against’ the text. In the context of practical analysis, this differentiation between event types, based on the structure of the narrative text, can be combined with Krah’s concrete categorizations.

   [42]
4 Topics for Further Investigation

[43]
(a) The historical dimension of the category of event, i.e. its relationship to different types of culture and social world orders, remains open to study: does it appear—as a sign of the new—more frequently in periods when traditional orders are disintegrating or being weakened (in the modern and modernist periods)? Are events to be found in tradition-bound societies or cultures that operate in terms of tradition and continuity? It would be interesting in this respect to provide a comparison with narrative texts from ‘distant’ cultures not yet affected by the West (South America, Asia, Africa). (b) The potent concept of event forged by Lotman is particularly well suited for use with literary narrative texts. How might we describe points of eventfulness, or tellability, in the case of other text types (anecdotes, news reports, newspaper articles, jokes, gossip, etc.) that also involve surprises and the unexpected? (c) The expression of the concept of event in other literary genres, such as drama and lyric poetry, requires consideration. (d) It is also necessary to investigate the expression of the concept of event in other media, particularly film and painting.

   [44]
5 Bibliography

   [45]
5.1 Works Cited

  • Aust, Hugo ([1990] 2006). Novelle. Stuttgart: Metzler.
  • Bremond, Claude ([1966] 1980). “The Logic of Narrative Possibilities.” New Literary History 11, 387–411.
  • Bruner, Jerome (1991). “The Narrative Construction of Reality.” Critical Inquiry 18, 1–21.
  • Chatman, Seymour (1978). Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca: Cornell UP.
  • Culler, Jonathan (1975). Structuralist Poetics: Structuralism, Linguistics and the Study of Literature. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
  • Frawley, William (1992). Linguistic Semantics. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  • Friedemann, Käte ([1910] 1965). Die Rolle des Erzählers in der Epik. Darmstadt: WBG.
  • Goethe, Johann W. von ([1795] 1960). Goethes Werke. Vol. VI: Romane und Novellen. Eds. B. v. Wiese & E. Trunz. Hamburg: Wegner.
  • Goethe Wörterbuch (1989). 2 Vols. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
  • Halliwell, Stephen (1987). The Poetics of Aristotle: Translation and Commentary. London: Duckworth.
  • Hauschild, Christiane (2009). “Jurij M. Lotmans semiotischer Ereignisbegriff: Versuch einer Neubewertung.” W. Schmid (ed). Slavische Erzähltheorie. Russische und tschechische Ansätze. Berlin: de Gruyter, 141–86.
  • Herman, David (2002). Story Logic: Problems and Possibilities of Narrative. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P.
  • Herman, David (2005). “Events and Event-Types.” D. Herman et al. (eds). Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory. London: Routledge, 151–52.
  • Hühn, Peter (2005). “Plotting the Lyric: Forms of Narration in Poetry.” E. Müller-Zettelmann & M. Rubik (eds). Theory into Poetry: New Approaches to the Lyric. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 147–72.
  • Hühn, Peter (2008). “Functions and Forms of Eventfulness in Narrative Fiction.” J. Pier & J. Á. García Landa (eds). Theorizing Narrativity. Berlin: de Gruyter, 141–63.
  • Hühn, Peter & Jens Kiefer (2005). The Narratological Analysis of Lyric Poetry: Studies in English Poetry from 16th to the 20th Century. Berlin: de Gruyter.
  • Hühn, Peter & Jörg Schönert (2002). “Zur narratologischen Analyse von Lyrik.” Poetica 34, 287–305.
  • Kock, Christian (1978). “Narrative Tropes: A study of points in plots.” G. D. Caie et al. (eds). Occasional Papers 1976–1977. Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, 202–52.
  • Krah, Hans (1999). “Räume, Grenzen, Grenzüberschreitungen: Einführende Überlegungen.” Kodikas/Code 22, 3–12.
  • Kunz, Josef, ed. ([1968] 1973). Novelle. Darmstadt: WBG.
  • Labov, William (1972). Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P.
  • Lotman, Jurij M. ([1970] 1977). The Structure of the Artistic Text. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P.
  • Meister, Jan Christoph (2003). Computing Action: A Narratological Approach. Berlin: de Gruyter.
  • Pabst, Walter (1953). Novellentheorie und Novellendichtung: Zur Geschichte ihrer Antinomie in den romanischen Literaturen. Hamburg: Cram, de Gruyter.
  • Perels, Christoph (1998). “Der Begriff der Begebenheit in Goethes Bemerkungen zur Erzählkunst.” Ch. P. Goethe in seiner Epoche. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 177–89.
  • Pratt, Mary Louise (1977). Towards a Speech Act Theory of Literary Discourse. Bloomington: Indiana UP.
  • Prince, Gerald (1973). A Grammar of Stories: An Introduction. The Hague: Mouton.
  • Prince, Gerald ([1987] 2003). A Dictionary of Narratology. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P.
  • Rathmann, Thomas (2003). “Ereignisse Konstrukte Geschichten.” Th. R. (ed). Ereignis: Konzeptionen eines Begriffs in Geschichte, Kunst und Literatur. Köln: Böhlau, 1–119.
  • Renner, Karl Nikolaus (1983). Der Findling: Eine Erzählung von Heinrich von Kleist und ein Film von George Moorse. Prinzipien einer adäquaten Wiedergabe narrativer Strukturen. München: Fink.
  • Renner, Karl Nikolaus (2004). “Grenze und Ereignis: Weiterführende Überlegungen zum Ereigniskonzept von J. M. Lotman.” G. Frank & W. Lukas (eds). Norm―Grenze―Abweichung: Kultursemiotische Studien zu Literatur, Medien und Wirtschaft. Passau: Stutz, 357–81.
  • Ryan, Marie-Laure (1991). Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence, and Narrative Theory. Bloomington: Indiana UP.
  • Schlaffer, Hannelore (1993). Poetik der Novelle. Stuttgart: Metzler.
  • Schmid, Wolf (1982). “Die narrativen Ebenen ‘Geschehen,’ ‘Geschichte,’ ‘Erzählung’ und ‘Präsentation der Erzählung’.” Wiener Slawistischer Almanach 9, 83–110.
  • Schmid, Wolf (2003). “Narrativity and Eventfulness.” T. Kindt & H.-H. Müller (eds). What Is Narratology? Questions and Answers Regarding the Status of a Theory. Berlin: de Gruyter, 17–33.
  • Schmid, Wolf (2005). Elemente der Narratologie. Berlin: de Gruyter.
  • Schönert, Jörg, et al. (2007). Lyrik und Narratologie: Text-Analysen zu deutschsprachigen Gedichten vom 16. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert. Berlin: de Gruyter.
  • Stanzel, Franz ([1955] 1971). Narrative Situations in the Novel: Tom Jones, Moby-Dick, The Ambassadors, Ulysses. Bloomington: Indiana UP.
  • Stempel, Wolf-Dieter (1973). “Erzählung, Beschreibung und der historische Diskurs.” R. Koselleck & W.-D. Stempel (eds). Geschichte―Ereignis und Erzählung. München: Fink, 325–45.
  • Sternberg, Meir (2001). “How Narrativity Makes a Difference.” Narrative 9, 115–22.
  • Suter, Andreas & Manfred Hettling (2001). “Struktur und Ereignis―Wege zu einer Sozialgeschichte des Ereignisses.” A. Suter & M. Hettling (eds). Struktur und Ereignis. Geschichte und Gesellschaft. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 7–32.
  • Swales, Martin (1977). The German ‘Novelle.’ Princeton: Princeton UP.
  • Titzmann, Michael (2003). “Semiotische Aspekte der Literaturwissenschaft: Literatursemiotik.” R. Posner et al. (eds). Semiotik / Semiotics. Berlin: de Gruyter, vol. 3, 3028–103.
  • Todorov, Tzvetan ([1968] 1977). “The Grammar of Narrative.” T. T. The Poetics of Prose. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 108–19.
  • Todorov, Tzvetan (1971). “The 2 Principles of Narrative.” Diacritics 1, 37–44.
  • Vendler, Zeno (1967). Linguistics in Philosophy. Ithaca: Cornell UP.

   [46]
5.2 Further Reading

  • Audet, René, et al. (2007). Narrativity: How Visual Arts, Cinema and Literature are Telling the World Today. Paris: Dis Voir.
  • Czucka, Eckehard (1992). Emphatische Prosa: Das Problem der Wirklichkeit der Ereignisse in der Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts. Stuttgart: Steiner.
  • Hühn, Peter & Jens Kiefer (2007). “Approche descriptive de l’intrigue et de la construction de l’intrigue par la théorie des systèmes.” J. Pier (ed). Théorie du récit. L’apport de la recherche allemande. Villeneuve d’Ascq: Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 209–26.
  • Kędra-Kardela, Anna (1996). “An (Un)Eventful Story: ‘Events’ in Frank O’Connor’s Short Story ‘The Frying Pan’.” L. S. Kolek (ed). Approaches to Fiction. Lublin: Folium, 71–80.
  • Korthals, Holger (2003). Zwischen Drama und Erzählung: Ein Beitrag zur Theorie geschehensdarstellender Literatur. Berlin: Schmidt.
  • Koselleck, Reinhart & Wolf-Dieter Stempel, eds. (1973). Geschichte―Ereignis und Erzählung. München: Fink.
  • Lotman, Jurij M. (2009). “Zum künstlerischen Raum und zum Problem des Sujets.” W. Schmid (ed). Russische Proto-Narratologie. Texte in kommentierten Übersetzungen. Berlin: de Gruyter, 261–89.
  • Meuter, Norbert (2004). “Geschichten erzählen, Geschichten analysieren. Das narrativistische Paradigma in den Kulturwissenschaften.” F. Jäger & J. Straub (eds). Handbuch der Kulturwissenschaften: Paradigmen und Disziplinen. Stuttgart: Metzler, vol. 2, 140–55.
  • Naumann, Barbara (2003). “Zur Entstehung von Begriffen aus dem Ungeordneten des Gesprächs.” Th. Rathmann (ed). Ereignis: Konzeptionen eines Begriffs in Geschichte, Kunst und Literatur. Köln: Böhlau, 103–18.
  • Nünning, Ansgar (2007). “Grundzüge einer Narratologie der Krise: Wie aus einer Situation ein Plot und eine Krise (konstruiert) werden.” G. Grunwald & M. Pfister (eds). Krisis! Krisenszenarien, Diagnosen und Diskursstrategien. München: Fink, 48–71.
  • Scherer, Stefan (2003). “Ereigniskonstruktionen als Literatur.” Th. Rathmann (ed). Ereignis: Konzeptionen eines Begriffs in Geschichte, Kunst und Literatur. Köln: Böhlau, 63–84.

Contents

New address

Since May 1, 2013, the living handbook of narratology (LHN) appears as a CMS-based version under the new address:
http://www.lhn.uni-hamburg.de
The former wiki version remains preserved under the date April, 30, 2013. It is now archived as a static version [February, 05, 2019].

Peter Hühn is Professor of English Literature, Hamburg University (retired since 2005). He has published books and articles on the theory of poetry and the history of British poetry, narratology, the application of narratology to poetry analysis, and detective and crime fiction. He is author of Geschichte der englischen Lyrik (1995) and Eventfulness in British Fiction (2010), co-author of Der Entwicklungsroman in Europa und Übersee (2001), Die europäische Lyrik seit der Antike (2005), The Narratological Analysis of Lyric Poetry: Studies in English Poetry (2005), Lyrik und Narratologie: Textanalysen zu deutschsprachigen Gedichten (2007) and co-editor of the Handbook of Narratology (2009).


Contact: mailto:huehn@uni-hamburg.de