Article published In: Narrative in ‘societies of intimates’
Edited by Lesley Stirling, Jennifer Green, Tania Strahan and Susan Douglas
[Narrative Inquiry 26:2] 2016
► pp. 376–401
Reiterative construction of narrative
A storytelling device from Javanese conversation
Published online: 30 March 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.26.2.08ewi
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.26.2.08ewi
Using Ochs & Capp’s (2001) five dimensions of narrative, I analyse small stories that emerge during informal conversation among Javanese speakers. Of particular interest are the dimensions of Linearity, Tellership and Moral Stance. While many of these narratives are organised in chronological order, nearly half emerge from their conversational context non-chronologically. The primary organising strategy found among the non-chronological narratives is repetition combined with elaboration. I call this pattern of narrative organisation reiterative storytelling. While reiterative storytelling may not be unique to Javanese, it is pervasive and particularly characteristic of Javanese interactional style. Reiterative storytelling is shown to support the co-constructed development of both narrative and evaluative detail and thus to provide a way for interlocutors to forefront the social motivations behind particular storytelling events.
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Cited by (4)
Cited by four other publications
Ferguson, Matthew Robert
Brotchie, Amanda
2016. Sequentiality in the narratives of Tirax, an oceanic language spoken on Malakula, Vanuatu. Narrative Inquiry 26:2 ► pp. 340 ff.
Djenar, Dwi Noverini
Mushin, Ilana
2016. Linguistic cues for recipient design in an Indigenous Australian conversational narrative. Narrative Inquiry 26:2 ► pp. 217 ff.
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