Hero narratives

Abstract: In the media and popular culture, talk of “hero stories” is omnipresent, and even recent scholarship ascribes to “hero narratives” a central role in heroization processes. In narratology, however, heroes and the heroic play only a marginal role. Here, the term “hero” is mostly used as a synonym for “protagonist”, which may include but is not limited to “heroic figures” in the narrow sense. On the one hand, this is regrettable, but on the other hand it offers the possibility of recasting this subject. The most prolific narratological categories with which the heroic can be apprehended are plot and figure. The one deals with typical plot structures and narrative sequences, the other with the narrative development of figures, in particular with their model ethical character that can be seen in that development. Of course, plot and figure mutually determine one another: there is no plot without figures and no figures without a plot. In this article, different narratological approaches for describing heroic figures and plot structures are summarised – including Hans Robert Jauß’s term “identification patterns” (Identifikationsmuster) and Patrick Hogan’s modelling of ‘heroic plot structures’ – and their analytical power illustrated using case studies

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Edition: Version 1.0, published 24 June 2024
• Language: Englisch

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Literatur, Rhetorik, Literaturwissenschaft
• Keyword: Erzählung ; Handlung ; Handlung ; Held ; Heldenepos ; Identifikation ; Literatur ; Rezeptionsästhetik

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Freiburg
• (who): Universität
• (when): 2024
• Creator: Tilg, Stefan ; Aurnhammer, Achim ; Feitscher, Georg
• Contributor: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. Sonderforschungsbereich 948 "Helden - Heroisierungen - Heroismen"

Further information

• DOI: 10.6094/heroicum/hne1.0.20240624
• URN: urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-2515244
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 14.08.2025, 10:54 AM CEST