Six axes of narrative structure, bounded below by the atom and above by the eye that can't see itself. Everything this thread built, on one grid.
╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ THE SIX-AXIS COORDINATE SYSTEM OF NARRATIVE ║
║ everything between the world and the one who perceives it ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ▲ CEILING ─ not narrative anymore ─ the wall this whole stack terminates against │
│ │
│ WORLD (what actually is) ◄════ the raw material ════► PERCEIVER (who │
│ ▲ myth digests imagines) ▲ │
│ ╚══════════════ the finder = the found · held AMBER ═══════════════╝ │
│ the eye that cannot see itself · same wall, every time │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
▲
════════════════════════════╪════════════════════════════ GOVERNING AXES
│ (operate on lineages themselves)
┌───────────────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 6 · HISTORY war · migration · tech · economics │
│ └─ governs WHICH archetypes activate, and WHEN (why a myth now) │
│ 5 · MEDIUM oral → manuscript → print → film → net │
│ └─ the channel; sets MUTATION RATE & reach (the pāṭha checksum) │
│ 4 · ARCHETYPE POOL ring-curse · dying-god · twin · flood · monomyth │
│ └─ the SPACE of deep structures lineages descend FROM (pre-textual) │
└───────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┘
│ a lineage is a PATH through this space
════════════════════════════════════╪════════════════════════════ BETWEEN-WORK
▼ (one structure, many works)
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 3 · LINEAGE (horizontal, old → new) │
│ │
│ ◈ROOT │
│ Völsunga ──▶ Nibelungen ──▶ Wagner ──▶ Donaldson │
│ saga lied Ring Gap Cycle │
│ ~1200 ~1200 1848-76 1990-96 │
│ │
│ 3b · STRATA (link TIGHTNESS, how the path connects): │
│ direct-adaptation > homology > analogy > citation │
│ (Wagner→Gap) (Tolkien PIE) (Erikson) (a wink) │
└───────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┘
│ each work on the path IS a column:
════════════════════════════════════╪════════════════════════════ WITHIN-WORK
▼ (one work, part → whole)
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ 2 · COLUMN (vertical, scope 1.0 → 0.1) scope │
│ │
│ ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐ 1.00 ceiling │
│ │ THEME what it's about (the why) │ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ │
│ │ MODE stance to reality (Frye) │ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░ │
│ │ OPERATORS tone·voice·pacing·POV │ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░ ← 4 sibling │
│ │ GENRE the setting / noun │ ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░ dials │
│ │ MOOD local scene texture │ ▓▓▓░░░░░░░ │
│ │ BEAT one image / line (the atom) │ ▓░░░░░░░░░ 0.10 floor │
│ └────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────┘
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ▼ FLOOR ─ the atom ─ a single image, below which there is no smaller narrative │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
READING IT: a WORK is a COLUMN (axis 2) standing at a POINT on a LINEAGE (axis 3),
whose links have TIGHTNESS (3b), drawing from an ARCHETYPE POOL (4), carried by a
MEDIUM (5), activated by HISTORY (6) — the whole apparatus suspended between the
WORLD it digests and the PERCEIVER who imagines it. Bounded both ends: atom below,
perceiver above. It does not recurse forever. It closes on the eye that can't
see itself — AMBER, by structure, not by lack.