nonautodiegetic

Nonautodiegetic is a term used in narratology to describe a narrator who is not an autodiegetic participant in the story. An autodiegetic narrator is one who exists as a character within the narrative world and tells their own experiences. By contrast, a nonautodiegetic narrator does not belong to the diegetic world as a character and typically speaks from outside the narrative events.

In practice, nonautodiegetic narration often corresponds to what many theorists call extradiegetic or external narration. Such narrators provide the frame or overarching commentary for the story rather than recounting events from the narrator’s own within-world perspective. This positioning can give the reader a sense of distance, enable broad or selective knowledge, or shape interpretation through a particular voice or stance. The narrator may employ third-person narration, an omniscient or limited perspective, or a frame-like introduction that precedes the main events.

The distinction between nonautodiegetic and other narratorial categories highlights how voice and perspective affect interpretation, reliability, and reader experience. A nonautodiegetic narrator can influence how characters and events are understood without being a participant in the diegesis. Some frameworks treat nonautodiegetic as largely synonymous with extradiegetic or external narration, while others reserve the label for specific subtypes of external narration that still interact with the diegetic level in particular ways, such as frame narratives or metanarrative voices.

Overall, nonautodiegetic serves as a useful descriptor within narratology for describing narrators whose presence lies outside the story’s in-world, first-person perspective, shaping distance, voice, and interpretive authority.