He Storyteller Is a character of little relevance within a story, which assumes the function of telling in the first or third person the events in which it is somehow involved.
This type of narrator creates a special bond with the reader by recreating a story that at first seems to have little knowledge.
He develops bonds of complicity with the viewer by divulging the discoveries that his character makes and solve the intrigues that are exposed in the course of the plot.
The witness narrator is not able to break into the thoughts of the characters, so he does not know his deep motivation.
You can only speculate on what you think and feel through the interpretation of your actions and behaviors.
The Types and Characteristics of Witness Narrator
In literary practice can be found as many styles of narrator witness, as of authors who employ this particular resource.
Each style shows the different degrees of knowledge about the plot that has the character designated to tell the story.
In addition, it shows the varying weights or levels of relevance that the author of the work can grant to this character during the development of events.
The following are the types of storytellers most used in contemporary literature:
1-Witness Spectator
Despite being a character that is part of the story, he appears as detached and isolated from the events. It attempts to accurately and impartially describe the facts. It merely presents situations with frivolity and distance.
The spectator witness narrator is characterized by having an external vision, clearly objective and similar to a cinematographic filming. However, his vision is partial not to show all reality, but the small part that has lived.
When the author decides to employ this type of witness narrator, he prefers to relate the events in present time and in third person; Uses the character only to describe the actions and not to intervene in them.
This style of narrator is commonly used in the police literature, where the narrator and the reader make deductions together from what they perceive.
As an example of this type of narrator is presented a fragment of the play"La Colmena"by Camilo José Cela.
"Dona Rosa comes and goes through the Cafe tables, stumbling over customers with her tremendous ass. Dona Rosa frequently says"leñe"and"we have merengao". For Dona Rosa, the world is her Cafe, and around her Cafe, everything else. There are those who say that Dona Rosa's eyes sparkle when spring comes and the girls begin to walk in short sleeves."
2- Witness Secondary Character:
The narrator participates actively in the events: it is inserted in the action. However, he seldom speaks of himself, he almost always uses his voice to describe the facts that affect the main character and other characters in the story.
When the author uses this style of narrator, abundant transcripts of dialogue between the characters are appreciated.
The secondary protagonist narrator usually adopts roles of fraternity, complicity and even mentor of the main character, which allows the reader to have a more intimate and close view of the thoughts, feelings and motives that lead the protagonist to perform certain actions.
To exemplify some of the characteristics described above, a brief excerpt from Scott Fitzgerald's"The Great Gatsby"is extracted:
"Gatsby grabbed everyone by the arm and went into the restaurant; There, Mr. Wolfsheim swallowed the phrase he was beginning to say and fell into a somnambulistic reverie."
3- Testimonial Witness or Informant:
It relates the happening in past tense. He can even narrate events that he did not witness, but he knows through diaries, letters, news reports or simply heard of some other figure in the novel.
In addition, this type of narrator can sometimes act as a judge and call into question some of the details of the story.
However, it is common that in reporting the most determining events of the plot present some type of document that serves as evidence to increase the level of confidence in the reader.
In order to make this style of narrator more noticeable, a small section of the story titled"El Indigno"available in Jorge Luis Borges' book"The Brodie Report"
"One afternoon when we were alone I was entrusted with an episode of his life, which I can refer to today. I will change, as expected, some detail."
How to recognize the Witness Narrator?
Below are some elements that can help the reader identify when the author of the work employs a witness narrator as part of his literary creation.
1-The character who tells the story is not the protagonist.
2-In the development of the plot there is usually a narrative that varies between objective and subjective at the same time.
3-The witness narrator does not have room to expose his own adventures and problems. He makes few allusions to himself.
4-At the beginning of the story the witness narrator usually appears briefly, showing that the story to be told is based on his particular vision of events, thus allowing the reader to infer that in some occasions he himself His own conclusions and not only be carried away by the opinions of the character he reports.
5-The witness narrator describes the interactions between the characters, quotes his words, comments on his gestures, describes the environment in which the events unfold and sometimes even presents complex analyzes and dissertations that allow the reader to know the opinions that the character has about what happens.
6-Accompany the reader in his states of astonishment, intrigue, deception, among others, since like the viewer, the narrator also ignores the elements that motivate the characters to perform certain actions.
The witness narrator can only infer or suppose the thoughts and feelings Of the rest of the characters present in the work.
7-History usually has no confronted points of view for the same event, so the narration becomes uniform.
8-The witness narrator can not describe what happens simultaneously in two places, unless the author of the work is worth giving special attributes to the character who reports.
References
- Clarenc, C. (2011). Notions of Cyberculture and Literature . Mainz, Pediapress.
- Cañelles López, R. (1998). Course of theory and practice of the story volume 2. Madrid, Publicaciones Digitales, S.A.
- Kohan, S. (2013). The strategies of the narrator . Barcelona, ALBA.
- González Stephan, G. (1990). Structure and significance of Pedro Páramo . Caracas, Simón Bolívar University.
- Valdez, D. (2003). The art of writing short stories: notes for a short narrative didactics . Santo Domingo, Manatí Publishing House.
- Naudé, B. (2009). FCS Integrated English First Additional Language L4 . Cape Town, Pearson Education.