ABSTRACT
Given the academic passion for classification, the extensive literature on narrative in various disciplines abounds with discussions of typologies, dimensions and axes. Margaret Somers and Gloria D. Gibson distinguish between ontological, public, conceptual and meta-narratives in an attempt to outline the social functions and political import of narrativity. The chapter aims to flesh out the details of their typology and to demonstrate its potential application in translation studies. Ontological narratives are personal stories that we tell ourselves about our place in the world and our own personal history. Ontological narratives are dependent on and informed by the collective narratives in which they are situated. Somers and Gibson do not mention the literary system, but literature of course constitutes one of the most powerful institutions for disseminating public narratives in any society. Public narratives are also adapted domestically within the same culture in response to evolving reconfigurations of the political and social space.
