Presenting narration : The perspectival construction of narrativity in Bulgarian and Macedonian

Abstract

This chapter describes narrativity as a fundamentally perspectival phenomenon, with perspectivity resulting from the interaction of viewpoint-introducing linguistic means. Their perspectival potential gives rise to a separate textual layer from which narration is presented. Along these lines, narrativity is regarded as evolving from the reflection on the relation between these two layers, i.e. the relation between an observer’s (mainly narrator’s and character’s) point of view and narration in its constitutive elements, such as events and objects. Among the linguistic means introducing viewpoints are the renarrative forms in Bulgarian and the tripartite definite article in Macedonian. Both are shown in this chapter to be prime examples illustrating the close relation between narrativity and perspectivity.