What are the structural features of a narrative discourse?

"Narrative discourse" is a
definitive term within the discipline of linguistics in the field of narratology.
Narrative discourse is a type of discourse in the category of href="http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsPragmatics.htm">pragmatics
(as opposed to semantics) and has specific defining features. Firstly, as a type of
discourse in pragmatics, a speaker and an
addressee are both participating in a context of
utterance so that the speaker makes expression
choices and the addressee makes interpretive
choices based on generally observed
principles and in accord with the goal of
the speaker (not the intention of the addressee).

Secondly,
a href="http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsADiscourse.htm">discourse
is defined by lexical and grammatical features that
emphasize main material of expression (as opposed to
emphasis on supportive material); have a theme to develop;
have a recognizable style; and present a main
framework within which the addressee interprets
knowledge and expectations expressed by the speaker.
Narrative discourse is but one kind of discourse; a few others are repartee discourse,
compound discourse, and expository discourse.

Thirdly,
because of its categorization in pragmatics as one type of discourse,
href="http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsANarrativeDiscourse.htm">narrative
discourse has defining characteristics. These structural
characteristics are as follow. A narrative discourse provides an account
of events (usually past events), organized
chronologically, with one event contingent upon, or
happening because of, a preceding event or events. Lexical
choices are verbs of action, speech and
motion that describe the series of contingent events as told by the
speaker from a first or third person point of view. The
content and context of narrative discourse is oriented around one or more
agents who are the performers of
actions.

The well known
component parts of a narrative discourse are the exposition
or setting; the inciting moment; the developing conflict; the climax; the denouement;
the final suspense; and the conclusion, or resolution. Some
examples of narrative discourse are historical events,
personal events, folk tales, mythology. [Further information is available via the
hyperlinks from the Glossary of Linguistic Terms (LinguaLinks Library), from which this
answer was drawn, available through SIL International.]