ABSTRACT
Narrative poeticians have long worked with a theoretical division of their subject-matter into the domains of story (or fabula, or histoire) and dis course (or sjuzhet, or discours). Story is the basic unshaped story material, and (with qualifications) comprises events, characters and settings. The relations between these three are remarkably variable, but examples of all three are nearly always present in narrative, although it is possible to dis pense with any explicit establishing of setting. Simply within the novel canon, compare the relative emphasis on event in an adventure novel with the relative emphasis on character in a Henry James novel, and the rela tive emphasis on setting in an historical novel. If events, characters and settings are all-important elements of story, the first of these three has nevertheless always been treated as pre-eminent and foundational by the orists of plot. For many theorists, the expressions ‘basic story structure’ and ‘event structure’ seem virtually synonymous. And a similar preoccupa tion with events and event structure, especially to the neglect of character, will be apparent throughout this chapter. Character and setting will be examined, however, in Chapter 4.
