Action, Action Descritpion, and Narrative

Abstract

HE AIM OF THIS PAPER is to show that a general theory of action may provide partial insight into the structure of narrative discourse. The intuitive idea behind this investigation is that one of the characteristic properties of narrative discourse is that it contains action descriptions. Such action descriptions are also given in current action theories of several disciplines, for example, philosophy, logic, the social sciences, and linguistics (pragmatics).' These theories provide a general, systematic, and explicit characterization of the structure of human acts, as distinct from nonacts, events, or states, of act sequences and interaction and of the conditions for successful action. The first part of this paper will briefly and informally summarize conclusions of recent action theories derived from philosophical logic. I shall focus upon the abstract structure and conditions of acts, neglecting specific psychological, social, historical, moral, economical, or other aspects of human action.