NARRATIVEANALYSIS.docx
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NARRATIVEANALYSIS.docx
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NARRATIVEANALYSIS
NARRATIVEANALYSIS
ORALVERSIONSOFPERSONALEXPERIENCE
WilliamLabov
ColumbiaUniversity
and
JoshuaWaletzky
HarvardUniversity
Mostattemptstoanalyzenarrativehavetakenastheirsubjectmatterthemorecomplexproductsoflong-standingliteraryororaltraditions.Myths,folktales,legends,histories,epics,toastsandsagasseemtobetheresultofthecombinationandevolutionofsimplerelements;theycontainmanycyclesandre-cyclesofbasicnarrativestructures;inmanycases,theevolutionofaparticularnarrativehasremoveditsofarfromitsoriginatingfunctionthatitisdifficulttosaywhatitspresentfunctionis.
Inouropinion,itwillnotbepossibletomakeverymuchprogressintheanalysisandunderstandingofthesecomplexnarrativesuntilthesimplestandmostfundamentalnarrativestructuresareanalyzedindirectconnectionwiththeiroriginatingfunctions.Wesuggestthatsuchfundamentalstructuresaretobefoundinoralversionsofpersonalexperiences:
nottheproductsofexpertstorytellersthathavebeenretoldmanytimes,buttheoriginalproductionofarepresentativesampleofthepopulation.Byexaminingtheactualnarrativesoflargenumbersofunsophisticatedspeakers,itwillbepossibletorelatetheformalpropertiesofnarrativetotheirfunctions.Bystudyingthedevelopmentofnarrativetechniquefromchildrentoadults,andtherangeofnarrativetechniquesfromlowerclasstomiddleclassspeakers,itwillbepossibletoisolatetheelementsofnarrative
Inthepresentpaper,wewillpresentananalyticalframeworkfortheanalysisoforalversionsofpersonalexperienceinEnglish.Wewillfirstintroducedefinitionsofthebasicunitsofnarrative,andthenoutlinethenormalstructureofthenarrativeasawhole.Finally,wewillpresentsomegeneralpropositionsabouttherelationofformalpropertiestonarrativefunctions,basedonourexaminationofamoderatebodyofdata.Theanalysiswillbeformal,baseduponrecurrentpatternscharacteristicofnarrative
fromtheclauseleveltothecompletesimplenarrative.Wewillberelyinguponthebasictechniquesoflinguisticanalysis,isolatingtheinvariantstructuralunitswhicharerepresentedbyavarietyofsuperficialforms.FromthisanalysisitispossibletoderiveaconsiderableamountofinformationonthesyntaxandsemanticsofEnglishbelowthesentencelevel;butthisdirectionofresearchwillnotbeexploitedhere.Wewillbeconcernedprimarilywiththecharacteristicsofthenarrativeitself.
Theanalysiswillbefunctional:
narrativewillbeconsideredasoneofconstructing
narrativeunitswhichmatchthetemporalsequenceofthatexperience,inparticular,atechniqueofconstructingnarrativeunitswhichmatchthetemporalsequenceofthat
experience.Furthermore,wewillfindthatnarrativewhichservesthisfunctionaloneisabnormal:
itmaybeconsideredemptyorpointlessnarrative.Normally,narrativeservesanadditionalfunctionorpersonalinterestdeterminedbyastimulusinthesocialcontextinwhichthenarrativeoccurs.Wethereforedistinguishtwofunctionsofnarrative:
(1)referentialand
(2)evaluative.
Inmostpreviousstudiesoffolknarrative,thebasicunitforanalysishasbeenasubstantialpieceofthematicmaterial,definedatvariouslevelsofabstractionbythetypeofactionreferredto.ThustheworkofPropp(1958)wasdevotedtotheformalstructureofsuchlargesemanticunits.Thepresentstudyhasassumedasabasictasktheanalysisofnarrativeswhichmightappearasfundamental,unanalyzableunitsinPropp=sscheme.Wewillbeconcernedwiththesmallestunitoflinguisticexpressionwhichdefinesthefunctionswherephrasesandwordsarerelevanttoevaluativefunction.Colby=swork(1996)takesasdatathefrequenciesofindividualwordsaccordingtoasemanticsubcategorization;alinguisticapproachisquiteoppositeindirection,focusinguponthesyntagmaticstructureofwordsandphrasesoperatinginclausesandhigherlevelsoforganization.SchatzmanandStrauss(1955)studiedclassdifferencesinnarrativetechniquebyinformalmeans;itishopedthatthemethodsdevelopedinthepresentdiscussionwillpermitamorereliableandobjectiveapproachtostudiesofthistype.
Wewillbedealingwithtape-recordednarrativestakenfromtwodistinctsocialcontexts.Oneisaface-to-faceinterviewwherethenarratorisspeakingonlytotheinterviewer,apersonnotamemberofanarrator=sprimarygroup.Inthesecondsituation,the
narratorsrecordedininteractionwithhisprimarygroup;heisspeakinginmarginsofthegroupwhoprovidesonlyapartofthestimulusforthenarrative.
Thefollowingpagesprovidefourteenexamplesofthedataonhanddrawnfromabout2600interviewsgatheredinthecourseoffourlinguisticstudies.Thenarratorsinclude
speakersfromNegroandwhitecommunities,ruralandurbanareas,andtheyrangeinagefrom10to72yearsold.Inonerespecttherangeislimited:
therearenohighlyeducatedspeakersrepresentedhere;infact,noneofthenarratorsfinishedhighschool.Theultimateaimsofourworkwillrequireclosecorrelationsofthenarrator=ssocial
characteristicswiththestructureoftheirnarratives,sinceweareconcernedwithproblemsofeffectivecommunicationandclassandethnicdifferencesinverbal3behavior.Inthispaper,however,weareconcernedwiththenarrativesthemselves,andsoexample1-14appearasanonymousnarrations,arrangedindescendingorderofthespeakers=ages.
[1]
(Wereyoueverinasituationwhereyouthoughtyouwereinseriousdangerofgettingkilled?
)Italkedamanoutof-OldDocSimonItalkedhimoutofpullingthetrigger.(Whathappened?
)
Well,inthebusinessIwasassociatedatthattime,theDocwasanoldman...Hehadkilledoneman,or-haddonetime.Buthehada-youngwife,andthosedaysIdressedwell.Andseeminglyshewastryingtomakeme.
Inevernoticedit.Factis,Ididn=tlikeherverywell,becauseshehad--shewasanice
lookinggirluntilyousawherfeet.Shehadbigfeet.Jesus,God,shehadbigfeet!
Thensheleftanoteonedayshewasgoingtocommitsuicidebecausehewasalwaysraisinghellaboutme.Hecametomyhotel.Nicebigblue44,too.
Italkedhimoutofit;andsays,AWell,we=llgolookforher,andifwecan=tfindher,
wellyoucan--goahead,pullthetriggerifyouwantto.@Iwasmaneuvering.
Sohetookmeuponit.Andwewenttowheretheyfoundherhandkerchief-theedge
tfindanything.Andofacreek-andwefolloweddownalittlemore,andwecouldn=
gotback-itwasatentshow-shewaslayingonacotwithanicebagonherhead.Shehadn=tcommittedsuicide.
But-however-thatsettleditfortheday.Butthatnightthemanager,FloydAdams,saidAYoubetterpackupandgetoutbecausethatsonofabitchneverforgivesanythingoncehegetsitinhishead.@
AndIdid.Ipackedupandgotout.Thatwastwo.
Thatwastwo.
AfterIcameoutfromNewYork...
[2]
Ihaddogsthatcoulddoeverythingbuttalk.Andbygorry,sir,Ineverlicked>em.
(Whenyouhavesmallkids,they=realwaysaskingforonemorething,likeadrinkof
water,tokeepfromgoingtobedatnight.Iwonderifyouhadthatproblem,andwhatyoudidaboutit?
)Yeah,but-alotofthechildrenI=veseen,thattheirexcusethey=ve
gottogotothebathroom,andtheydon=thavetogoatall.(Howdoyoucopewithit.
Youcan=t--youneverknow...)No.Idon=trememberhowwecopedwithit.Inever
believedawholelotinlicking.Iwasnever-withmychildren,andInever-whenitwaswithmyanimals,dogs;Ineverlickedadog,Ineverhadto.AdogknewwhatImeant;whenIholleredatadog,heknewthe-whatImeant.Icould--Ihaddogsthatcoulddoeverythingbuttalk.Andbygorry,sir,Ineverlicked>em.
Inevercomenearerbootin=adoginmylife.Ihadadog--hewasawonderfulretriever,butasIsayhecoulddoeverythingbuttalk.Icouldwaifhimthatway,Icouldwaifhimon,Icouldwaifhimanywhere.IfIshotacrippledduckhewentoutafterit;hedidn=t
seeitinthewater,he=dalwaysturnaroundlookatme,andI=dwaifhimoverthere,if
theduckwasthere,orifitwasontheothersideofwherewe=reon,Icouldwaifhim
straightahead,andhe=dturnandhe=dgo.Ifhedidn=tseeme,he=dturnaround,he=d
lookatme,andI=dkeepa-waifin=himon.Andhe=dfinallycatchsightofhim,and
theminutehedid,youknow,hewouldbee-lineandgetthatduck.
Iwasgunnin=onenightwiththatdog-wehadtouselivedecoysinthosedays-afellownamedJackBumpuswaswithme;IwasoverataplacecalledDeepBottom,
darkerthanpitch.And-uh-heardaquackin=offshore.And,IsaidtoJack,AKeep
quiet.There=sonecomin=in.@And-uh-finallyJacksaidtome,AIthinkIsee>im.@
Isaid,AGive>imagun.Give>imagun.Tryit.@
Soheshot,andthisduckwentfortheshorewithhiswingsa-goin=likethatforthe
shore.Wentupontheshore.Wellthisdogneverlostacrippledduckonshore,he=d
takeatrackjustthesameasahoundwouldtakearabbittrack.AndIsenthimover.Isaid,AGoahead.@
Sohewentoverthere.And-goneawhileandcomebackandhedidn=thavetheduck.
Andthatwasunusual--Isaid,AYougitbackthereandgetthatduck!
@Andhewent
backthere;andhestayedalittlewhilelonger,longerthanhedidthefirsttime,andhecomebackandhedidn=thavethatduck.
AndInevercomenearershootinÕadog.Bygorry,Icomeprettynear.ÒYougitbackthereandgetthatduck!
@Andthatdogwentbackthere,andhedidn=tcomeback.And
hedidn=tcomeback.Bygorry,wewentoverthere-Iwalkedoverthere,andherehewas;oneofmyt
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