Characterisation and time in H.H. Ramokgopa's morutiši o llwe ke eng?

Abstract

Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter which explains the three- level distinction in narratology. The three levels are: the story, the text, and the narration. Chapter 2 focusses on actors in this short story, and how groups of actors, called actants, are formed. Six classes of actors can be distinguished. Chapter 3 concentrates on the transformation of actors into characters on the text level, where they now have individual traits and resemble human beings. A distinction is made in Chapter 4 between historical time and narrative time. The functional events in the short story are identified and arranged chronologically. Thereafter the functional events are organized into sequences. Chapter 5 investigates order, duration, and frequency in "Morutisi o llwe ke eng?", as elements of text-time. This study conclude, with a summary of how the actors are transformed into characters, as well as the interaction between story-time and text-time.