Elsevier

Journal of Pragmatics

Volume 6, Issues 5–6, December 1982, Pages 473-486
Journal of Pragmatics

Stories are to entertain: A structural-affect theory of stories

https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(82)90021-2Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper proposes that theory construction in the area of stories must distinguish between theories of plan comprehension, theories of narrative comprehension, and theories of the story schema. Evidence is provided which suggests that a number of theoretical and empirical findings that have been taken to contribute to theories of the story schema are better interpreted as relating to plan comprehension and narrative comprehension. The paper suggests that theory evaluation in this area must take into account the discourse force of the genre being investigated. The authors propose that stories are a subclass of narratives that have entertainment as their primary discourse force. Finally, a structural-affect theory is outlined and evidence is given to suggest that this theory gives a partial account of the reader's story schema.

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    This research was supported in part by the National Institute of Education under Contract No. HEW-NIE-C-400-76-0116.

    1

    William F. Brewer. Received his B.A. from Harvard College in 1963, his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1967. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute of Communications Research and is associated with the Center for the Study of Reading, all at the University of Illinois. He carries out a research in cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, memory, reading comprehension, schema theory, and stories.

    2

    Edward H. Lichtenstein. Received his B.A. from Dickinson College in 1972 and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1979. He has worked as a Research Associate at the Center for the Study of Reading, University of Illinois and is now at the Communication Department of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology. His research interests are in cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, memory, speech production, and reading processes in the deaf.

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