Abstract
There is a phenomenon where a significant number of actual audience members actively participate and intervene in the narrative process during narrative activities. It is true that the field of narratology often leans towards a “text-centered” and “narrator-centered” approach, neglecting the examination of the real audience's role. Existing research on the real audience mainly focuses on areas such as reading and viewing psychology, audience consumption surveys, and similar aspects. Similarly, in the realm of performing arts, particularly drama, the emphasis is often placed on the performance itself rather than exploring the relationship between the real audience and the narrative. This leads to the exclusion of the real audience from the study of narratology. Incorporating the real audience into narrative analysis requires a shift from a “closed text” to an “open work” perspective. It involves recognizing the different types and roles of the real audience in various art forms and moving away from traditional, closed narrative frameworks towards an “open narrative” approach. By incorporating the concept of “theatricality” into the audience-narrative relationship, existing theories of “narrative process” and “narrative intervention” can be reexamined. This allows for a differentiation of the real audience's intervention in the narrative process into “intervention in the real narrative process” and “intervention in the fictional narrative process”. This perspective opens up possibilities for exploring the development of a narrative theory that is shaped by the active participation of the real audience.
Keywords
real audience; narrative process; narrative intervention; open narrative
First Page
19
Last Page
30
Recommended Citation
Chen, Yu. 2024. "The Intervention of Real Audiences in the Narrative Process: Exploring a Possible Narrative Theory." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 43, (4): pp.19-30. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol43/iss4/3
