She wondered if anyone knew what it was called...

February 11, 2009 2:23 PM

English majors! What's that literary term?

Sometimes in a novel that's narrated in the third person, there are *certain* characters about whom the narrator is omniscient (so we're privy to their thoughts and memories) while other characters are only reported on from the outside (so we only know their actions and words). Is there a word for that kind of hybrid structure / the characters whose heads we get to go inside?

posted by moxiedoll to writing & language (6 comments total)

Not an English major, but I happen to know this is called third-person limited omniscient.
posted by jjg at 2:27 PM on February 11

Free indirect discourse
posted by puckish at 2:33 PM on February 11

Also
posted by jckll at 2:42 PM on February 11

Seconding puckish. It's a great way to get a character's voice into the story while retaining the flexibility of omniscient narration. Also, it's nice to break down that storyteller/character barrier.
posted by themadjuggler at 3:43 PM on February 11

I've heard both third-person limited omniscient and Free indirect discourse. So, uh, that makes it more complicated.
posted by OrangeDrink at 5:29 PM on February 11

I've heard both third-person limited omniscient and Free indirect discourse. So, uh, that makes it more complicated.

Not really complicated. Free indirect discourse is a narratorial technique used to indicate the thoughts and feelings of characters that are being described in the third person. "Third-person limited omniscient" describes the point of view of the narrator. In other words, a novel written from the third-person limited omniscient point of view might have passages of free indirect discourse. Usually "free indirect discourse" doesn't characterize the novel as a whole.
posted by Orinda at 5:44 PM on February 11 [3 favorites has favorites]