Reasoning with Narratives

Reasoning with Narratives’ is an attempt to combine narrative theory with theories of knowledge representation and knowledge acquisition in order to establish a foundation for computer aided narrative analysis. The theoretical foundation in the area of narratology is mainly derived from a structural approach. A number of narratologies are examined, and a unified model based on the notions of succession, transformation, and mediation is presented. Furthermore, an elaboration of the actantial model is presented in order to account for matters of narrative mediation. Formal representations are written in PROLOG+CG, a language that combines PROLOG (PROgramming in LOGic) with the Conceptual Graphs formalism developed by John Sowa, based on the works of Charles Sanders Peirce. A case study in form of a formal representation of a full-scale narrative is presented, and a number of ontology-driven and relation-oriented queries are conducted and evaluated in order to justify the claim that narrative analysis can be carried out in a computational environment, revealing deep structures as well as surface structures of a narrative. Cover illustration. The front cover is a computer-manipulated version of an engraving by the French painter and sculptor Gustave Doré (1833 – 1882). The motive of the engraving is ‘the battle of the Midianites’. With an army of only three hundred men, Gideon led a nightly attack at the camp of Midian. From three directions, soldiers armed with torches, jars, and trumpets, surprised the Midian army, and startled them with the terrible war-cry, "For the Lord and for Gideon" (Jud 7:18)