Focalisation

Focalisation is a term coined by the French narrative theorist Gérard Genette.[1] It refers to the perspective through which a narrative is presented.

Determinant

Focalization in literature is similar to point-of-view (POV) in film-making and point of view in literature. “Focalization” is a term coined by Gérard Genette that is intended to refine point of view and narrative perspective. It separates the question of “Who sees?” in a narrative from “who speaks?” [2] The one who sees the events and happenings of the narrative—called focalizer—may be the same or different from the one who tells the story. If the narrator chooses to relate events and happenings through the perspective of a character, the character is the one who sees the events of a narrative, but the narrator is the one who speaks.[3] A narrative where all information presented reflects the subjective perception of a certain character is said to be internally focalised. An omniscient narrator corresponds to zero focalization. External focalisation is the camera eye.

A novel in which no simple rules restrict the transition between different focalizations could be said to be unfocalised, but specific relationships between basic types of focalization constitute more complex focalization strategies; for example, a novel could provide external focalization alternating with internal focalizations through three different characters, where the second character is never focalized except after the first, and three other characters are never focalized at all.

Narratology

The specific domain of literary theory which deals with focalisation is narratology, which concerns not only distinctions between subjective and objective focalisations but various gradations between them, such as free indirect discourse, style indirect libre, or quasi-direct discourse. Narratologists tend to have a difficult time agreeing on the exact definitions of categories in their field; hence its dynamic nature.

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See also

References
  1. Parsons, Allan (2017-06-27). "Focalisation". compendium.kosawese.net. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  2. Gérard Genette, Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method, trans. Jane E. Lewin (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, [1972] 1980), 186; Mieke Bal, Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative, 3rd ed., trans. Christine van Boheeman (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009), 146; Niederhoff, Burkhard: "Focalization", Paragraph 8. In: Hühn, Peter et al. (eds.): the living handbook of narratology. Hamburg: Hamburg University [view date:3 February 2020].
  3. James L. Resseguie, "A Glossary of New Testament Narrative Criticism with Illustrations," in Religions, 10 (3: 217), 12.


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