Blackwell Reference Online

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actant : in structuralist narratology, any of the basic roles in the action structure of a narrative. Greimas, who originated the term, described six actantial roles (subject, object, sender, receiver, helper, and opponent), but the term is often used more loosely to refer to a character considered in terms of his or her structural function in the action — a hero (subject) or villain (opponent), for instance. The same actantial role can be held by more than one character (there may be many opponents, for example) in a given narrative; similarly, the same character can perform more than one actantial role (for example, a character who is initially a helper may also be an opponent). See also passant . analepsis, analeptic : flashback. Analeptic passages interrupt the forward movement of narrative time by narrating material (events, an image, a figure of speech) from an earlier time in the chronology. antinarratable : that which, according to a given narrative, should not be told, due to social convention or taboo. attached text, or contingent text : one in which the primary “I” is assumed to be the author of the work; one whose meaning depends on the equation of the textual voice with that of the author. Editorials and scholarly essays are attached texts. auditory percept : the subjectively perceived auditory object resulting from the translation, by the hearing process, of the acoustic ... log in or subscribe to read full text