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Topic · Literature and Literary Theory

Narrative Theory and Analysis

Narrative Theory and Analysis is a research topic within Literature and Literary Theory. Science Explorer counts 9.6k research works in it since 1950. 10.3% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the theory and analysis of fictional narratives, including topics such as narrative structure, unreliable narration, fictionality, cognitive sciences' impact on narrative understanding, and the ethics of storytelling. It delves into the complexities of narrative forms and their implications for literature and human emotion.

  • Narrative
  • Fictionality
  • Unreliable Narration
  • Cognitive Sciences
  • Narrative Theory
  • Emotion
  • Literature
  • Narrative Ethics
  • Storytelling
  • Metalepsis
Research works
9.6k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
989
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.3%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+10%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
24% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Narrative Theory and Analysis

Which countries lead Narrative Theory and Analysis research?

By volume, the United States and Germany publish the most (354 and 334 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 354 works
  2. 2 Germany 334 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 184 works
  4. 4 China 163 works
  5. 5 Russia 99 works
  6. 6 France 86 works
  7. 7 Türkiye 80 works
  8. 8 India 73 works
  9. 9 Indonesia 65 works
  10. 10 Poland 58 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 23.7%Germany: 22.3%United Kingdom: 12.3%China: 10.9%6 others listed: 30.8%24%largest
United States354 · 23.7%Germany334 · 22.3%United Kingdom184 · 12.3%China163 · 10.9%6 others listed461 · 30.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Narrative Theory and Analysis research?

By volume in 2022-now, Freie Universität Berlin publishes the most Narrative Theory and Analysis research, followed by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Aarhus University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Freie Universität BerlinGermany 17 works
  2. 2 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 14 works
  3. 3 Aarhus UniversityDenmark 13 works
  4. 4 Tampere UniversityFinland 13 works
  5. 5 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 12 works
  6. 6 Goethe University FrankfurtGermany 12 works
  7. 7 University of FreiburgGermany 11 works
  8. 8 University of OsloNorway 11 works
  9. 9 University of HelsinkiFinland 11 works
  10. 10 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität MünchenGermany 10 works

Who are the leading researchers in Narrative Theory and Analysis?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Narrative Theory and Analysis include Dan J. Stein and Norman K. Denzin.

  1. 1 Dan J. Stein South Africa 306k citations
  2. 2 Norman K. Denzin United States 130k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Narrative Theory and Analysis?

The most cited paper in Narrative Theory and Analysis is "Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film" (Timothy R. Austin, Seymour Chatman, 1979), with 2,670 citations. Next come "Narration as a human communication paradigm: The case of public moral argument" (1,794) and "Intermediality, Intertextuality, and Remediation: A Literary Perspective on Intermediality" (939).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film Timothy R. Austin, Seymour Chatman · Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 1979 2,670
2 Narration as a human communication paradigm: The case of public moral argument Walter R. Fisher · Communication Monographs Mar 1984 1,794
3 Intermediality, Intertextuality, and Remediation: A Literary Perspective on Intermediality Irina O. Rajewsky · Intermédialités Histoire et théorie des arts des lettres et des techniques Open access 10 Aug 2011 939
4 The Self We Live by: Narrative Identity in a Postmodern World Amanda J. Coffey, James A. Holstein, Jaber F. Gubrium · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews May 2002 849
5 Some Further Steps in Narrative Analysis William Labov · Journal of Narrative and Life History 1997 782
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Narrative Theory and Analysis research done?

The largest centres of Narrative Theory and Analysis research in 2022-now are Moscow (Russia), Berlin (Germany), London (United Kingdom) and Beijing (China).

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 MoscowRussia 36 works
  2. 2 BerlinGermany 35 works
  3. 3 LondonUnited Kingdom 34 works
  4. 4 BeijingChina 31 works
  5. 5 ParisFrance 24 works
  6. 6 New YorkUnited States 18 works
  7. 7 IstanbulTürkiye 18 works
  8. 8 BudapestHungary 17 works
  9. 9 ShanghaiChina 17 works
  10. 10 Los AngelesUnited States 16 works
See Narrative Theory and Analysis on the map

Where is the best place to study Narrative Theory and Analysis?

Among universities, judged by research, Tampere University, Freie Universität Berlin and University of Oslo score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 12.61%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Tampere UniversityUniversity of OsloGoethe University Fr…Freie Universität Be…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Tampere UniversityFinland 83.131.6%19.2×12 +23.8%
2Freie Universität BerlinGermany 60.64.0%19.1×17 +101.1%
3University of OsloNorway 58.715.2%8.0×11 +1.7%
4Goethe University FrankfurtGermany 56.513.7%12.2×12 +58.3%
5University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 53.915.7%4.1×12 -10.1%
6University of FreiburgGermany 46.52.4%11.1×11 +45.6%
7University of HelsinkiFinland 46.017.2%7.1×10 -17.7%
8Aarhus UniversityDenmark 43.87.8%7.0×13 -61.7%
9University of GöttingenGermany 42.810.0%10.4×8 +84.1%
10University of WuppertalGermany 38.88.5%30.5×9 +150.4%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Narrative Theory and Analysis, country by country

Is Narrative Theory and Analysis research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 10% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Narrative Theory and Analysis.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Narrative Theory and Analysis as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0096% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%0.015%Narrative Theory and Analysis0.010% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Narrative Theory and Analysis over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Narrative Theory and Analysis10.2% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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