ABSTRACT

This chapter begins with a discussion of the special status of narrative in theories of discourse processing, language use, and literacy. Next, we attempt to define what narrative is, based on considerations from several different fields: cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, literary criticism, and anthropology. Finally, we discuss so me major theories of narrative representation and comprehension in cognitive science. Representation has been at the center of recent theoretical debates in cognitive science, so it will receive primary billing throughout the chapter.