This study fills three of the most serious gaps in narrative theory and analysis of fiction. Firstly, it provides the long overdue, first genuinely comprehensive model of literary narrative («fiction»). Its «structuralist-generative» nature allows to integrate the findings of most major theorists of the twentieth century. The model is explained in detail and illustrated by a fold-out chart. Secondly, in contrast to structuralist narrative theory, the model is not a mere inventory of the various «units» of which a work of fiction consists. Rather, it elucidates the dynamic interplay of the literary narrative’s various content «components» and discourse «aspects» which convey its thematic idea. Thirdly, the feasibility of the model is extensively demonstrated by the (selective) analysis of several short stories, a novella and a novel. – In the appendix, a student paper shows the model’s heuristic-«didactic» power at the level of advanced literary studies.

The Author: Volker Schulz read English and German at the universities of Erlangen, Berlin and Munich. He received his Ph.D., in 1969, and habilitated, in 1979, at the University of Würzburg. Since 1979, he has been a full professor of English literature at the University of Vechta.