ABSTRACT
Narrative is a mode of expression born along with human civilization. The concept of narrative in the West can be traced back to discussions by Plato and Aristotle in ancient Greece, and in China it dates back to documents on “narration” and “thing” in ancient Chinese literature. “Narrative” has a genetic relation to the Latin words “narrativus” and “narrare”. Aristotle’s conception of “narrative” can be found mainly in Poetics. The categories of “the point of view”, “story” and “plot” in a modern theory of fiction are of guiding significance to contemporary narrative studies. The narrative elements and structural features the myth possesses apply to other narrative genres to a great extent. The concepts of “narrative as the discourse”, “the surface and deep structures of narrative” and “the function of narrative” establish a fundamental direction for structuralist narrative studies.
