Erzählenden

Erzählenden is a German term used in literary theory to refer to the narrating voice or narrators of a text, often in the plural. It denotes the agents who relay events to the reader, and it can be used to discuss more than one narrator within a work or across a corpus. While Erzähler is the more common everyday term for “narrator,” Erzählender or Erzählende/Erzählenden focuses on the act of storytelling itself and the role of narration as such.

Grammatically, Erzählender is a noun formed from the verb erzählen with the agent suffix -ender. The plural is typically expressed as die Erzählenden (nominative and accusative), with den Erzählenden in the dative. The form Erzählenden thus appears in sentences like “Die Erzählenden wechseln die Perspektive,” or in phrases where the group of narrators is referenced. In usage, the term is often employed to distinguish the narrating voice from the character-narrators themselves, such as a fictional narrator who is not identical with any character in the plot.

In literary analysis, Erzählenden are considered when examining narrative vantage point, reliability, and voice. Analysts may contrast Erzählende with other terms like Erzähler, Ich-Erzähler, or allwissender Erzähler to explore how perspective, distance, and judgment are conveyed. The designation can also help describe multifocal or polyphonic narratives, where several narrating positions interact or compete for authority within the text.

See also: Erzähler, Ich-Erzähler, allwissender Erzähler, personale Erzählperspektive, Erzählhaltung.