Entertainment / Literature / Etiological Narrative: Etiology is the branch of philosophy dealing with the origins of things or how things came to be. An etiological narrative in folklore, mythology/religion, or literature is a story that explains how a social custom, geographical feature, animal, or plant came into existence. For instance, Ovid's Metamorphosis explains that so many serpents exist in India because Perseus spilled some Gorgon's blood there, and where each drop of blood fell, a serpent arose, Ovid also explains how Mount Olympus came to be so tall--giants and titans piled one mountain on top of another in order to reach the heavens and battle Jupiter. Unusual rock formations in Wales are often explained in etiological narratives. For instance, an unusual rock formation might be explained using a story about King Arthur riding his horse over the rocks, resulting in the geological formation. Some Scandinavian legends about trolls and giants are etiological narratives explaining how a mountain range or a valley came into existence. For instance, an ice-giant damned a river to create a lake, or a troll dug up a valley to create a moutain pass. Often toponyms and onomastic legends contain etiological functions. Contrast with eschatological narrative, above.
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Narrative Noun Synonyms: story, tale, chronicle, description, revelation, portrayal, account, report, record, history, recital, statement
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Entertainment / Literature / Eschatological Narrative: Eschatalogy in Christian theology is the study of the end of things, including the end of the world, life-after-death, and the Last Judgment. An eschatalogical narrative refers to a story dealing with MORE
Entertainment / Literature / Narrative Narration: Narration is the act of telling a sequence of events, often in chronological order. Alternatively, the term refers to any story, whether in prose or verse, involving events, characters, and what the c MORE
Technology / Television (TV) / Non-Narrative Television: Televisual texts (e.g., news and sports programs, game shows, some commercials) that present reality to us without using conventional narrative structures. Instead, nonnarrative television relies on e MORE