Epic works have basically two speech situations: the narrative report and the figurative speech. As a narrative report, all utterances are described in an epic work that does not belong to the figurative speech. This means that the narrative report means all the statements within a text which are not thought, spoken, or expressed by a figure of the text.
The narrator shows the narrated world as a whole. In this world the figures are of course included. In this context, the narrative report has three main focuses: either the narrator informs about the figures, the rooms or the events of the work, or reports what the figures say, thinks, feels, etc., or makes the narrative process itself a subject (eg, that he is the narrator).
Accordingly, the narrator’s speech situation is dictated by the characters, and depends on how he tells the story. He determines decisively which types of the figurative speech he admits and which not. The forms of the figures of the figures are as varied as they are in real life.
Forms of narrative report
As described, all utterances in a text, which are not taken by figures of the work, are attributed to the narrator’s report. The narrative report is divided into the following forms: description, discussion, report (speech report and thought report) and scenic presentation.
It is important that every moment in which a narrator speaks to us and we are not dealing with an utterance of the characters is to be interpreted as a narrative report. The following overview of the narrative forms is therefore only a list of the possible properties that such a report can have.
Note: Another speech situation in epic texts is the figurine speech, also a person’s speech. In contrast to the narrative report, the figures themselves (fig.
Brief overview: significance, function and characteristics of the narrative report
The epic text knows two speech situations: the storyline and the narrative report. The narrative report means all the statements which were not made by a character of the work, but was made directly or indirectly by the narrator.
There are different forms: description, discussion, report (speech report and thought report) and scenic presentation
All these narrative forms have an effect and affect the representation of time in the work. Some have no time reference (description, discussion) and others reproduce timelines (narrative, scenic representation) → narrative time, narrated time
