Narrativethat

Narrativethat is a term used in some strands of narrative theory to describe a focus on propositions embedded in discourse through that-clauses within a narrative. In this framing, events and motives are analyzed not only by what they show but by the that-clauses that assert or imply them.

Etymology and scope: The word combines narrative with that, highlighting the grammatical device central to the approach. There is no single canonical definition, and the term often appears in critical essays or pedagogy as a descriptive label rather than a strict theory.

Analytical focus: Researchers using narrativethat examine how that-clauses function to indicate belief, reliability, or inference, and how they shape reader or viewer interpretation. The approach can be applied to literature, film, interactive media, and computational narrative generation.

Examples: A novel might foreground that-clauses to reveal a narrator's confidence, e.g., that the city is safe, or that the hero acted for noble reasons, thereby guiding the audience's judgments. In games, information or intention may be communicated via that-clauses in logs or dialogue.

Relation and critique: Narrativethat intersects with reported speech, indirect discourse, metafiction, and epistemic stance. Critics caution that the term is not standardized and may overlap with existing concepts, so precise definitions and typologies are essential when used in analysis or teaching. See also: narrative theory, epistemic stance, reported speech, indirect discourse, metafiction.