What is Narrative in the media?

The Basics

Simply put, narrative is the way in which a 'story' or series of events is told to the viewer or listener. A key concept of narrative is that it is reliant on its type, the same story can be told over and over again but its presentation in the News would be entirely different to its presentation in a Soap Opera due to the codes and conventions of that particular type.

Other than the News and Soap Operas, other types of narratives include fairy tales, jokes, comics, dreams, thrillers and ghost stories. These different narratives all present versions of the world, each in different 'packaging'. Such 'packaging' has similar common elements but will have different characteristics. For example, the same story could be told in different orders or from  different points of view depending on the conventions of the type of narrative.

It is through narrative that the similarity between fiction and fact is realised. Whilst one is created and the other real, both are 'narrated'. This means they are told by the selection, order and shape for a particular audience.

Furthermore, there are different narratives used in different media platforms. In films or documentaries, the narrative is often developed or extended to tell a whole story whereas mini-narratives are seen most often in adverts and magazines. This technique tells a small section of a narrative, leaving the viewer to complete it. This is particularly effective in advertising as it forces more thought on the product being advertised. In contrast television shows such as Soap Operas or News broadcasts apply Continuous or Serial Narratives which tell the story in 'episodes' over a longer (continuous) amount of time.

Key Elements

The following features are common to all narratives. The ability to identify the appearance of these traits within any media text allows us to analyse their effects and also allow the audience to see how reality has been constructed.

Narrative Structure is the basic plot. It relies upon an initial state of order being disrupted and ending with the resolution of the aforementioned problem which leads to the restoration of order. The problem that causes the disruption and its method of resolution rely on the genre e.g. the punishment of the criminal in a crime drama. This basic structure can be seen in all medal platforms, even advertising where the product being marketed acts as the resolution to disruption.

Character is essential to narrative as both the function and producers of the plot. The exact role of each individual character within the narrative relies on their basic character type whether this is a hero or a donor.

A Narrator is essential for any narrative. The narrator is the 'story teller' but they may also act as evaluators of the presented material, such as the commentators of sporting events. A main part of narration is recognising the point of view the narration is coming from. In film and television there often isn't a literal narrator, instead the camera itself is the narrator as it controls the events and order of images the audience see and therefore 'read'. As a result, narration is often implicit as it relies on the audience to decide that whilst certain images denote one thing, is can and will connote much more. Therefore, a lot of narration relies n the audience decoding the narrative.

The Narratee has an uncertain position within the narrative. It is their job to understand the narrative by decoding the actions of the narrator. However, it is difficult to say whether they must just reconstruct the meaning of what is before them or to add their own subjective opinion based on thoughts, feelings and values. The opinions built by narratees have helped to define, analyse and describe the denotations and connotations of essential elements of highly visual media formats such as film, television and advertising. Every narrative and media text construct constructs its own 'implied audience' who were familiar with the codes and conventions of the narrative  and were responsive to the functions of that type of media. As a result, the 'implied audience' is unique to the genre and narrative as certain characteristics just aren't appealing to some groups, however these two traits are essential for any narratee.

Narrative Codes are used by the narrator to create certain effects, such as controlling the suspense of a scene, obtaining audience attention, building setting or revealing character. It is argued that everything within a narrative serves a purpose; this is the effect of narrative code. Analysis of any media platform will reveal the distinct codes used and for what function they are employed.

Genre refers to the type of narrative presented in the media form. It controls setting, character, narrative definition and the effect on the audience. A particular media platform, often film, may stick to one genre but employ the codes and conventions of many genres.

Narrative form is the way a narrative is physically constructed through time, spacing and order rather than the underlying structure.