The narrated world is a concept from the narrative theory. The narrated world describes the what-side of a narrative. With regard to what is, on the one hand, interesting the histoire which the history of a text means (what happens and why it happens?) And, on the other hand, the narrated world. This includes all the figures, objects, spaces and actions that the text describes. In the fictitious world, different rules may apply, as in reality.
This means that a narrated world may indeed correspond to the rules, laws or even expectations of our everyday world, but can also be fictional, although of course other rules and rules can apply. Let’s take a look at two examples from the literature.
The work Ronja Räubertochter of Astrid Lindgren, tells a story about the friendship of two children. The rooms of the work are familiar at many levels. So there are people and deep, dark forests as well as two enemies of robbery.
In the Räubertochter universe, however, there are also many creatures and figures that do not exist in our world. The narrated world thus differed in many respects from reality. Nevertheless, the rules of this world are valid in the book.
Let us now consider the reader of Berhard Schlink. This novel tells a relationship of the narrator Michael Berg to Hanna Schmitz. The book is divided into three parts and remains between boundaries, which also correspond to our everyday world. True, the story is remarkable, but the narrative does not break with known rules, although it is, of course, fictional.
Note: “The Reader” and “Ronja Räubertochter” thus have different narrated worlds that follow different rules and laws. When reading, this cosmos reveals itself, whereby the narrator mediates this world and prepares it for the recipient (reader, listener).
Short overview: The most important facts about the world being told
The narrated world is a concept of narrative theory. The term encompasses all actions, spaces, objects and figures of a literary world. Accordingly, he means all the content that is conveyed in a work and creates a world that can have its own laws.
These rules and laws can here be cover-covering with the ones known to us or be enormously different from these. Wholly the same as the world is constructed, the figures of the narrative adhere to these rules.
The told world requires three elements to exist at all. Firstly, an event that can be told (action), secondly a narrator, which conveys it from a narrative perspective, thirdly an addressee, ie a recipient (reader).
Thus, the concept is related to histoire, plot, and the fabula, which also describe the totality of the narrated events, although these naturally mean only a level of narrative, and not the entire cosmos of the literary, fictitious world.
