Book contents
6 - Perception and Focalization
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2009
Summary
In this chapter, we discuss the role of perceptual information in narrative and its role in identifying the narrator and his or her knowledge of the narrative world. In the traditional narratological scholarship, the role of perceptual information is only one small part of the broader problem of focalization. First, we illustrate several specific problems that have arisen in the theory of focalization as a result of the unresolved tension between a formal description of the text and a subjective description of what readers may do with that text. Second, we discuss some of the psychological evidence on perspective and spatial representations. Third, based on some of these ideas, we propose a psychonarratological solution to the problems we identify in the theory of focalization. This approach enables us to step out of the circular logic relating the text to ideal readers and vice versa. Fourth, we present some new ideas concerning the nature of the representations pertaining to focalization that readers construct. Finally, we describe some empirical evidence consistent with our framework and hypotheses.
Narratological Approaches to Focalization
Among scholars who have engaged in the narratological dialogue on focalization, there seems to be a relatively clear understanding about the theoretical goals: A theory of focalization should provide an account of the source of knowledge and perception within the text based on the relationship between the narrator and the characters.
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- PsychonarratologyFoundations for the Empirical Study of Literary Response, pp. 166 - 199Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2002