erzählende

Erzählende is a German term that derives from erzählen, meaning to tell or narrate. It can function as an adjective meaning narrating or narrative, and it can also occur as a nominalized present participle, Erzählende, used as the noun for a narrator or storyteller. The concept is common in literary theory, linguistics, and media studies to denote aspects of storytelling and narrative voice.

As an attributive adjective, erzählende describes something that tells or conveys a story. Examples include die erzählende Stimme (the narrating voice) and eine erzählende Perspektive (a narrative perspective). It may contrast with terms for specifics of narration, such as der auktoriale Erzähler (the authorial narrator) or der personale Erzähler (the personal narrator).

As a noun, Erzählende with capitalization refers to the narrator or narrator-in-general. The singular is der/die Erzählende; the plural is die Erzählenden. This noun use is common in discussions of narrators within novels, films, and plays. Note that when used as an adjective at attributive position, it is lowercase: eine erzählende Stimme.

Distinctions: Erzählende differs from erzählerisch, which describes narrative style or manner, not a narrator per se; and from Erzählung, which denotes the work as a narrative rather than the act of narrating. The term is mainly encountered in German-language criticism and academic discourse, where it helps specify who is telling the story and how it is told.