A Theory of Narrative by F. K. Stanzel translated by Charlotte Goedsche

This monograph lays out Stanzel's theory of narrative. He contends that narrative fiction is unique because of its Mittelbarkeit or mediacy. That is, what makes narrative fiction narrative is that it reflects the presence of an intermediary or narrator. He characterizes this kind of fiction according to three properties: mode, perspective, and person, each of which has a binary set of attributes. These propensities lead to a typological continuum or circle which can be used to class narratives. According to Stanzel, historically narratives have tended to be one of three types: first-person narrative, authorial narrative, or, more recently, figural narrative, although he has found these types from a preponderance of historical examples and sees no reason why other types could not develop in the future. I though Stanzel was very good on the consequences of narrative choices, and that his classification scheme is flexible enough to be useful (especially since he doesn't insist that a given narrative strictly adhere to a certain type throughout). Altogether a useful way of looking at narrative, if you like that sort of thing.