On the Bi Layer Space Time Dimensions of Text and Symmetry of Subjects
Yang Wang · Journal of Southwest China Normal University · 1999
The physical layer and the discourse meaning layer of a written narrative text define different space time dimensions. In the true text, the “events” take place before the “narration”, so the two layers are interwoven; in the fictional text, the “events” happen after the “narration”, therefore the fictional space time dimension is closed and isolated. With the conventional reading procedure, one cannot definitely identify the two logical relations between “events” and “narration”, so the concepts “formal narrator” and “formal narratair” are introduced here to conduct an analysis on the symmetry of subjects.