Narrating agency D- Narrator (who says) 1- Identification of the narrator: Unlike the real author who has a physical existence, the narrator, like the characters, is a construct only brought into being by the text.

Extradiegetic narrators do not take part in the diegesis. Intradiegetic narrators take part in the story..

- Whenever the narrator is a character, the narration is said to be “character-bound” or homodiegetic. Homodiegetic narrators are felt to be closer to the reader than their heterodiegetic counterparts, simply because there is no narrator standing between the reader and the character and hindering the process of identification.

Narrator agency Whenever an obtrusive heterodiegetic narrator keeps intervening in the story, commenting upon the characters or judging them, summing up what they are supposed to have said or using indirect speech, the distance between the reader and the characters increases. Increasing this distance enables the author to invite the reader to assess the situation, to appraise or to condemn, in short to be critical.

Narrator agency 2- The role and functions of the narrator: a- relating actions and events. The narrator’s role can be reduced to merely relating what happens, the different actions and events which build up the narrative. b- Establishing the setting. One of the narrator’s most frequent role consists in establishing a spatio-temporal setting. This precise function could be defined as the descriptive function.

b- Establishing the setting. One of the narrator’s most frequent role consists in establishing a spatio-temporal setting. This precise function could be defined as the descriptive function.

Narrating agency c- Commenting upon the characters The narrator can comment upon the characters’ attitudes, constantly digressing from the description of what they do or say to the analysis of their behaviour. Narratorial intervention then, providing explanations or explicit judgements, contributes to direct characterization while reducing the reader’s freedom of interpretation. d- Generalizing. As is often the case in didactic fiction, the narrator may use the characters’ individual lives to put forward a much more general message or to be emblematic of a group or of a society at large.

d- Generalizing. As is often the case in didactic fiction, the narrator may use the characters’ individual lives to put forward a much more general message or to be emblematic of a group or of a society at large.

Narrating agency e- Addressing the reader. The narrator can address the reader “dear reader” and such a direct interpellation establish a different relationship between the narrator and the actual reader.

Narrating agency g- Reporting the characters’ words or presenting their thoughts. Presentation of speech and thoughts can take at least 5 different forms: - Direct presentation of speech or thoughts: “what are these vast buildings?” she wondered. This mode of presentation is characterized by the presence of inverted commas, and of a reporting clause. The narrator is independent from the characters. It is often considered as the illusion of pure mimesis because the speaker’s words are quoted or recorded.

Narrating agency - Indirect presentation of speech and thoughts: She wondered what those vast buildings were. The characters’ words or thoughts are totally subordinated to the narrator’s own words. - Free indirect presentation of speech or thoughts: What were those vast buildings? Free indirect discourse appears as a complex mixture of direct style. The direct interrogative form is still there and indirect style characterized by the use of past tenses. As there is no reporting clause, the narrator’s presence can hardly be perceived and the emphasis is on the character whose voice can be heard distinctly. The tense is past. It is currently used to reproduce a character’s stream of thoughts or his sensations or impressions.

Narrating agency - Narrative report of speech or thoughts: she wondered about those buildings. The characters’ words or thoughts are not really reported to the reader, they are merely summed up by the narrator who is in the foreground. Only a minimal account of the statement is given. The use of direct or free indirect discourse facilitate identification as the reader suddenly feels s/he is placed within the character’s mind.