On the ‘De-anthropomorphisation’ of the Narrator

Abstract

Abstract The prevalent belief in narrative studies that a narrator can appear as a character or possess a personality often leads to confusion and misunderstandings. Characters fundamentally exist within the story, including the narrating character who should be seen as a presence similar to the author of the story rather than a ‘character narrator’. Furthermore, the narrator does not possess a personality, as its moral aspects primarily stem from the implied author or the characters. The narrator’s existence relies on its function, serving as a proxy for executing the intentions of the implied author (sometimes transferred as the intentions of the characters), selecting narrative elements, organising them into text, and guiding the recipient’s interpretive process. This perspective likens the narrator to the frame of a narrative, transforming it into a representation separate from the real world. De-anthropomorphising the narrator can have implications for several key narratology issues.