Narreme is the basic unit of

narrative structure Narrative structure is a literary element generally described as the structural framework that underlies the order and manner in which a narrative is presented to a reader, listener, or viewer. The narrative text structures are the plot and the ...

. According to Helmut Bonheim (2000), the concept of ''narreme'' was developed three decades earlier by

Eugene Dorfman Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

and expanded by

Henri Wittmann Henri Wittmann (born 1937) is a Canadian linguist from Quebec. He is best known for his work on Quebec French. Biography Henri (Hirsch) Wittmann was born in Alsace in 1937. After studying with André Martinet at the Sorbonne, he moved to North Am ...

, The narreme is to

narratology Narratology is the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect human perception. It is an anglicisation of French ''narratologie'', coined by Tzvetan Todorov (''Grammaire du Décaméron'', 1969). Its theoretical li ...

what the

sememe __NOTOC__ A sememe () is a semantic language unit of meaning, analogous to a morpheme. The concept is relevant in structural semiotics. A seme is a proposed unit of transmitted or intended meaning; it is atomic or indivisible. A sememe can be the ...

is to

semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy Philosophy (f ...

, the

morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology. In English, morphemes are ...

is to

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

and the

phoneme In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

. The narreme, however, has yet to be persuasively defined in practice. In interpretative narratology constrained in a framework of

principles and parameters Principles and parameters is a framework within generative linguistics in which the syntax of a natural language is described in accordance with general ''principles'' (i.e. abstract rules or grammars) and specific ''parameters'' (i.e. markers, sw ...

, narration is the projection of a narreme N⁰, the abstract head of a narrative macrostructure where N^''n'' dominates immediately N^''n''-1 (Wittmann 1995).In this author's views, narremes are the

constituent Constituent or constituency may refer to: Politics * An individual voter within an electoral district, state, community, or organization * Advocacy group or constituency * Constituent assembly * Constituencies of Namibia Other meanings * Const ...

s of narrative

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specificat ...

s, a concept that has found applications in

game theory Game theory is the study of mathematical models of strategic interactions among rational agents. Myerson, Roger B. (1991). ''Game Theory: Analysis of Conflict,'' Harvard University Press, p.&nbs1 Chapter-preview links, ppvii–xi It has appli ...

and

game semantics Game semantics (german: dialogische Logik, translated as ''dialogical logic'') is an approach to formal semantics that grounds the concepts of truth or validity on game-theoretic concepts, such as the existence of a winning strategy for a player, ...

(Shivel 2009)

Notes

{{Reflist

Bibliography

*Bonheim, Helmut. 2000. "Shakespeare's narremes." In: ''Shakespeare Survey 53: Shakespeare and narrative''. Edited by Peter Holland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–1

*Dorfman, Eugène. 1969. ''The narreme in the medieval romance epic: An introduction to narrative structures''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. *Schärfe, Henrik. 2004. ''CANA: A study in computer-aided narrative analysis''. Aalborg University, Dept. of Communication: Ph.D. dissertation. *Shivel, Gail. 2009. "World of Warcraft: The Murloc is the Message." ''Symplokê'' 17:1-2.205-21

*Tusseau, Jean-Pierre & Henri Wittmann. 1975. "Règles de narration dans les chansons de geste et le roman courtois". ''Folia linguistica'' 7.401-1

*Wittmann, Henri. 1974. "Topics in the theory of narrative algorithms." Travaux linguistiques de l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières 3.

*Wittmann, Henri. 1975. "Théorie des narrèmes et algorithmes narratifs". ''Poetics'' 4:1.19-2

*Wittmann, Henri. 1995. "La structure de base de la syntaxe narrative dans les contes et légendes du créole haïtien." ''Poétiques et imaginaires: francopolyphonie littéraire des Amériques''. Edited by Pierre Laurette & Hans-George Ruprecht. Paris: L'Harmattan, pp. 207–21

Narrative units, Narratology

See also

Notes

Bibliography