Abstract
Structurally, formal definitions of the linguistic narrative minimally require two temporally linked past-timeevents. The role of spacein this definition, basedon spatial lan- guage indicating where events occur, is considered optional and non-structural. However, based on narratives with ah igh frequency of spatial language, recent research has ques- tioned this perspective, suggesting that space is more critical than may be readily apparent. Through an analysis of spatially rich serial criminal narratives, it will be demonstrated that spatial information qualitatively varies relative to narrative events. In particular, statistical classifiers in a supervised machine learning task achieve a 90% accuracy in predicting Pre-Crime, Crime, and Post-Crime events based on spatial (and temporal) information. Overall, these results suggest a deeper spatial organization of discourse, which not only provides practical event resolution possibilities, but also challenges traditional formal linguistic definitions of narrative.
Highlights
The essential elements of the formal structure of the linguistic narrative are events and time; for example, defined by Labov as “a sequence of two clauses which are temporally ordered [such that] a change in their order will result in a change in the temporal sequence of the original semantic interpretation” [18]
In the 10 crime narratives (Crime) narratives, there were a total of 418 instances
Despite Table 5’s indication that figure provided the highest overall individual accuracy compared to spatial verb and ground, it is ground which is most discriminating for the CRI narrative domain
Summary
The essential elements of the formal structure of the linguistic narrative are events and time; for example, defined by Labov as “a sequence of two clauses which are temporally ordered [such that] a change in their order will result in a change in the temporal sequence of the original semantic interpretation” [18]. If (A2) preceded (A1), the series of narrative events would unfold differently. In (B), the inclusion of referential locations in the kennel (B1) and at the front desk (B2) adds information, such that the eating and sniffing events happen in, presumably, different locations. If this information is absent, as in (A), the ability to recognize (B) as a narrative is not disrupted.
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