To make the most of the space available to me in this frame format and to avoid a mere listing of web pages, I have set up the links page using DHTML. For optimum viewing, you should use Microsoft Explorer, Netscape 4, or Mozilla as your browser. Netscape 6 (especially on a Mac) has some major problems handling this DHTML even though it works perfectly on Netscape's source code, Mozilla. If you are a Netscape 6 user, I recommend a free download of Mozilla, which works seamlessly with Netscape 6. Alternatively, you will soon be able to turn to a version of this list in static HTML.
On the left, you will find links to the various subheadings. Once you are inside a subcategory, you can scroll up and down, when necessary, by placing your cursor over the arrow icons at the bottom right (you can try it now, actually). To scroll faster, simply click on an arrow icon and hold down (herein lies one of the bugs in Netscape, by the way). The links on the left include information about the following:
Links1) Literature: includes links that help students learn about the application of narratology to literary fiction.
2) Film: includes links that help students learn about the application of narratology to film and other visual media.
3) Pedagogy: includes links to syllabi and web pages from classes that introduce narrative theory to undergraduate or graduate students.
Books1) Intros: includes recommended books that are accessible to beginners seeking to understand the theory of narrative.
If you click the Introduction link, you will return to this page. Note that this list is not designed to be exhaustive by any means. I only mention those sites and books that I have found to be particularly interesting or of use. If you know of any other links or books of interest, feel free to e-mail me with the information (felluga@purdue.edu) and I will consider adding your recommendation to the list.
Manfred Jahn's
Narratology: A Guide to the Theory of Narrative.
This web page is surely the best introduction to literary
narratology on the internet. The intro is accompanied by an equally
in-depth introduction to
film narratology.
Both introductions are much more extensive (and, by necessity, more abstruse) than the one on this site. They therefore serve as a superb next step in learning about
narrative theory; it should be noted, however, that both introductions quickly become too difficult for most undergraduate students to follow. The site also includes a
helpful bibliography and a short, briefly annotated list of film websites.
JNT: Journal of Narrative Theory.
This is an excellent,
fully-refereed print
journal that now makes available on the internet some of its recently-published essays. Many of the articles will give you a good sense of advanced scholarly work
in the field of literary narratology.
Be sure to check out the
recent essays link.
Earl Jackson Jr.'s
Study Guide to Roland Barthes' "Introduction to the Structural Analysis of Narrative.
This web page provides a helpful introduction to Barthes' important narratological text, with brief heuristic applications to sample texts.
Earl Jackson Jr.'s
Study Guide on Narration.
This web page goes into some detail on the differences between direct, indirect, and free indirect discourse, providing helpful heuristic applications.
Manfred Jahn's
A Guide to Narratological Film Analysis.
This web page is surely the best introduction to film
narratology on the internet. That intro is accompanied by an equally
in-depth introduction to
narratology's examination of literary fiction.
Both introductions are much more extensive (and, by necessity, more abstruse) than the one on this site. They therefore serve as a superb next step in learning about
narrative theory; it should be noted, however, that both introductions quickly become too difficult for most undergraduate students to follow. The site also includes a
helpful bibliography and a short, briefly annotated list of film websites.
Glossary of Film Terms
at Rosebud: A Digital Resource for Film Studies.
A superb listing of film terms that also includes clips to illustrate the terms (usually taken from
seminal cinematic works).The rosebud site is maintained by a group of professors and lecturers at the U of Maryland: Mitchell Lifton, Eugene Robinson, Naré Ratnapala,
and Kathy Burdette.
Daniel Chandler's "'Grammar' of Television and Film. .
Another superb listing of film terms that includes still pictures to illustrate some of the terms (like the differences among various camera angles, movements,
or shot sizes). Daniel Chandler is a lecturer at the U of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media.
This is a superb, fully-refereed print
journal that has begun to make available on the internet some of its previosly-published essays. Many of the articles will give you a good sense of advanced scholarly work
in the field of film narratology.
Be sure to check out the
archive link.
JNT: Journal of Narrative Theory.
This is an excellent,
fully-refereed print
journal that now makes available on the internet some of its recently-published essays. Many of the articles will give you a good sense of advanced scholarly work
in the field of film narratology.
Be sure to check out the
recent essays link.
Scope: An On-Line Journal of Film Studies.
This fully-refereed web journal
offers articles by scholars on film and is published by the Institute of Film Studies at the University of Nottingham. Note that most of the articles do not approach
film from a purely narratological or structuralist perspective; however, the journal
provides a rich group of articles on a variety of issues and film genres. There are also review essays about relatively recent films. Be sure to check out the
archive link.
Image [&] Narrative: On-Line Magazine of the Visual Narrative.
Published by the Institute for Cultural Studies of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, this on-line journal does not appear to be as rigorously peer-reviewed as Scope;
however, it has published some interesting, if sometimes uneven, articles.
David
Herman's Narratology and Narrative Theory
A graduate class at North Caroloina State University. The web page provides the course's reading list, which pairs
theorists alongside literary texts ranging from Apuleius and Beowulf to Woolf and Borges. He also offers up a
second class that is mostly an overview of contemporary
naratological theories, with the mention of one interesting application text (Turn of the Screw).
Bruce Clarke's Narrative and Media
A graduate course at Texas Tech University. The web page includes a very brief listing of readings for the course,
which concentrates especially on the importance of narratology on
media theory.
Eric Rentschler's and Sara Eigen's Mass Culture in Nazi Germany: The Power of Images and Illusions
An undergraduate class at Harvard University that applies principles of film theory to the analysis of mass culture, especially as manifested in
Nazi Germany. Of particular use are the hand-outs on film analysis, especially Reading an Opening and Reading a Film Sequence
Chatman, Seymour. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1978.
This is one of the most cited introductions to narrative theory—and no wonder: the presentation of the material is clear and concise. Chatman also
provides a number of helpful heuristic examples, from comic strips to Citizen Kane. This book was followed in 1990 by Coming to Terms: The Rhetoric
of Narrative in Fiction and Film.
Cohen, Steven and Linda M. Shires. Telling Stories: A Theoretical Analysis of Narrative Fiction. New York: Routledge, 1988.
A helpful introduction to narrative theory by way of poststructuralism. It includes numerous heuristic examples and is designed to be accessible to undergraduate
students without dumbing down the original theories.
