Theoretical problems of narrative focus (for a "general" theory of narrative focus)

Abstract

For a "general" theory of focalization, referring to narrative, cinematographic and theatrical fictions, the pertinence of the following distinctions is defended: 1) visual focalization / auditory f. ; 2) interior f. / outside f. , with respect to the perception of the object; 3) focal point / focalized object, each subject to personal / impersonal opposition; 4) explicit f. (internal or external) / implied f. or implied f. by the "composition" of the story; 5) five focalization planes: spatial, temporal, cognitive, affective and ideological; as well as 6) the transfer of "powers" from the narrator to the "focalizer" in the not vocal stories; and 7) the attribution to the receiver of a "control" function of the focalization.