Narrator Types and Innovations (on the Example of Contemporary Slovenian Novel)

Abstract

The article tackles the function of the narrator in contemporary fiction. After outlining the position of the narrator in classical and post-classical narratology, it analyses several innovative approaches to this category as found in contemporary Slovenian novel. The article outlines general determinants of the narrator and attempts at showing that the category is still viable and offers possibilities for systematising. It looks at the narrator in the context of narratology and provides a definition and typology of this category. Given the syncretic character of the category of narrator, the knowledge of its multiple types – not restricted to the ones outlined by structuralist narratology – proves to be fruitful. The wider current definition of the narrator is most concisely outlined in the standard model of communication and consists of such elements as the real author, implied author, narrator, narratee, implied reader and real reader. The model, unlike older conceptualisations, is based on mediation and the activity of the narrator, not on the notion of the narrator as the speaker.

Keywords

• narratology
• narrator
• narrator types and their innovations
• slovenian novel