syuzhet

Syuzhet is a term in narratology used to denote the narrative presentation of a story—the arrangement, pacing, and framing of events as they are shown to the audience. It comes from the Russian сюжет and is contrasted with fabula, the underlying sequence of events as they would occur in chronological order.

Scholars such as Gérard Genette have treated the syuzhet as the constructed plot that shapes interpretation, while the fabula is the skeleton of events. The syuzhet is analyzed along three principal dimensions: order (the sequence in which events are presented), duration (the amount of narrative time devoted to events), and frequency (how often events are repeated). Narrative devices such as flashbacks (analepsis), foreshadowing (prolepsis), and parallel plotlines are tools that alter the syuzhet.

Syuzhet is a central concept in literary analysis, film studies, theater, and other narrative forms, used to explain how audience reaction is shaped by the way events are told rather than simply by what events occur. A chronological syuzhet presents events in their natural order; a non-linear syuzhet rearranges them for suspense, thematic emphasis, or perspective.

In contemporary usage, the term also appears in data-science contexts: an R package named syuzhet provides sentiment-analysis tools designed for narrative text, illustrating how the term has found application outside traditional theory.