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Literature vocabulary · Narration and Point of View

Narratee

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, narratee means: The person or figure within a narrative to whom the narrator seems to speak or address the story.

In Turkish: anlatı alıcısı

How it is used

Used in narratology to distinguish the narrator's internal addressee from the real reader. Helpful when analyzing direct address, framing, and storytelling levels.

Example sentences

  1. In the diary sections, the missing sister becomes the narratee, because every entry is written as if she might still read it.

    The term identifies the internal recipient of the words, which is different from the actual audience holding the book.

  2. The professor pointed out that the child listener is the narratee, even though the novel also clearly addresses adult readers.

    Here, narratee names the figure addressed inside the story world, not the broader market or readership.

Common collocations

  • explicit narratee
  • internal narratee
  • narrator and narratee
  • narratorThe voice that tells the story to the reader. It may be a character in the story or an outside voice, and it is not the same as the author.
  • point of viewThe position from which a story is told, which decides whose eyes we see events through and how much we learn, for example first-person or third-person.

More terms: Narration and Point of View

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