DOI: https://doi.org/10.29025/2079-6021-2022-4-17-34

The narrative arc: Revealing core narrative structures through text analysis

Authors: Boyd R.L., Blackburn K.G., Pennebaker J.W. 

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Abstract: Scholars across disciplines have long debated the existence of a common structure that underlies narratives. Using computer-based language analysis methods, several structural and psychological categories of language were measured across ~40,000 traditional narratives (e.g., novels and movie scripts) and ~20,000 nontraditional narratives (science reporting in newspaper articles, TED talks, and Supreme Court opinions). Across traditional narratives, a consistent underlying story structure emerged that revealed three primary processes: staging, plot progression, and cognitive tension. No evidence emerged to indicate that adherence to normative story structures was related to the popularity of the story. Last, analysis of fact-driven texts revealed structures that differed from story-based narratives.

Оriginal Paper: Ryan L. Boyd, Kate G. Blackburn, James W. Pennebaker. The Narrative Arc: Revealing Core Narrative Structures Through Text Analysis. Science Advances. Vol 6, Issue 32. Published online 2020 Aug 7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba2196. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0).
Тranslaion: Irina A. Zyubina; Southern Federal University;
105/42 Bolshaya Sadovaya Str., Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation, 344006; 
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1265-8366; Web of Science Researcher ID: J-5205-2017; 
Scopus Author ID: 57194704279; e-mail: irinazyubina@gmail.com.

Keywords: narrative structure, narrative arc, emotional arc, dramatic arc. computer-based language analysis, content-related approache.

For citation: Ryan L. Boyd, Kate G. Blackburn, James W. Pennebaker. The Narrative Arc: Revealing Core Narrative Structures Through Text Analysis. Current Issues in Philology and Pedagogical Linguistics. 2022, no 4, pp. 17–34. https://doi.org/10.29025/2079-6021-2022-4-17-34 (In Russ. and in Engl.)

Bionote:
*Ryan L. Boyd¹, Kate G. Blackburn², James W. Pennebaker^3
1Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YF, UK;
¹ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1876-6050;
¹Scopus Author ID: 37560905500;
¹Web of Science Researcher ID: GZH-1468-2022;
²Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, TX 78712-1043, USA;
²ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3373-9883;
²Scopus Author ID: 55700197700;
³Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, TX 78712-1043, USA;
³ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9091-214X;
³Web of Science Researcher ID: E-5997-2013;
³Scopus Author ID: 7005677125;
*email: ryan@ryanboyd.io

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