Jannidis Three Levels
@chatgpt.4o
Fotis Jannidis, a scholar in literary studies, proposed a model of narrative communication that distinguishes between three levels of communication within a narrative. These levels help analyze how stories are structured and how information is conveyed from the author to the reader through various intermediaries. The three levels are:
1. Real Communication (External Level)
- Participants: The actual author and the actual reader.
- Description: This is the level of communication that occurs outside the narrative itself. It involves the real, flesh-and-blood author who writes the text and the real reader who interprets it. This level is concerned with the external context, such as the author’s intentions, the historical and cultural background, and the reader’s response to the text.
- Example: When you read a novel, the real communication is the interaction between you (the reader) and the novelist (the author).
2. Narrative Communication (Internal Level)
- Participants: The implied author, the narrator, the narratee, and the implied reader.
- Description: This level deals with the communication that happens within the narrative itself. The implied author is the version of the author that is constructed by the text, and the implied reader is the ideal reader the text seems to be addressing. The narrator is the voice telling the story, and the narratee is the entity within the text to whom the narrator is speaking. This level focuses on how the story is presented to the reader through the narrative voice and perspective.
- Example: In a first-person novel, the narrator (a character within the story) might be telling their tale to an implied audience, who represents the narratee. The implied author shapes the narrative voice and how the story unfolds.
3. Fictional Communication (Diegetic Level)
- Participants: Characters within the story.
- Description: This level is concerned with the communication that occurs between characters within the fictional world of the narrative. It involves dialogue, thoughts, and interactions between the characters as they engage with one another. This level is entirely within the diegesis (the world of the story).
- Example: In a novel, when two characters are having a conversation, the communication between them is at the fictional communication level.
Summary:
- Real Communication: Interaction between the real author and the real reader.
- Narrative Communication: Interaction within the narrative, involving the implied author, narrator, narratee, and implied reader.
- Fictional Communication: Interaction between characters within the story's fictional world.
These three levels of communication help to dissect the complex layers through which a story is conveyed and received, offering a framework for understanding the different participants and interactions involved in the narrative process.
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