Tense and Spoken Language in Oral Stories

This article addresses the question of narrative tense usage in a particular variety of performed oral narration in modem French, i.e. oral storytelling. We examine the narrative tense systems used in both traditional & new storytelling, comparing these with well-attested oral & written patterns & with theoretical models such as Benveniste's, Weinrich's & Revaz's. We examine briefly some of the key functions of the tense alternations attested, again comparing these to patterns in other types of discourse, & conclude by considering the nature of the "orality" in question. Tables. Adapted from the source document