Unit 2: Background/Foreground in Narrative

Question 1

What are the differences in reported speech between Greek and English?

Answer 1

When reporting speech, Greek retains the tense of the original statement (which is called “direct speech”). In other words, someone who originally learned of Jesus’ whereabouts would have said ἐν οἴκῳ ἐστίν (“he is at home”). This is direct speech, that is, what the words would be if placed in quotation marks. When this direct speech is reported by someone else, it becomes “indirect speech.” In other words, in the statement “they heard that he was at home,” the direct speech “he is at home” has now become indirect speech. Here is the important point: in English the verb tense shifts when moving from direct speech to indirect speech (here from “ is at home” to “ was at home”); in Greek this shift does not happen. As a result the present tense ἐστίν here sounds strange to us; in English you will need to translate this indirect speech with “was” rather than “is.”

Question 2

Why is foreground important? (aka mainline)

Answer 2

foreground is needed to tell the story and advance it (provides the skeleton of the story or argument)

Question 3

Why is background important? (aka offline)

Answer 3

background is needed to set the scene and provide the framework (fleshes out the story or argument)

Question 4

What question do you ask to recognize background?

Answer 4

1. How is the information of a given clause or sentence relates to the wider context?
2. Is the information contextualizing movement of a story or argument?
   (In order to answer this question, you have to be aware of both the wider context and the genre of the text.)

Question 5

What question do you ask to recognize foreground?

Answer 5

1. Is the information extending the principal movement of a story or argument?
   (In order to answer this question, you have to be aware of both the wider context and the genre of the text.)

Question 6

In relation to the narrative genre, how is background recognized?

Answer 6

will typically be information that sets the scene or comments on the foreground information

Question 7

In relation to the narrative genre, how is foreground recognized?

Answer 7

will tend to be that which communicates the next event or the next action taken by a character (narratives are typically organized around temporal succession and characters’ actions)

Question 8

In relation to the nonnarrative genre, how is foreground recognized?

Answer 8

information comprised of instructions, commands, and teachings

Question 9

What tenses and mood are verbs typically in that are foreground? And What tenses and mood are verbs typically in that are background?

Answer 9

1. aorist indicative
2. historical presents
3. imperfect indicatives
4. perfect indicatives
   [it is important to affirm that there is only a correlation between perfective aspect and foreground, not a one-to-one correspondence. Similarly, there is only a correlation between imperfective aspect and background, not a one-to-one correspondence. In other words, while paying attention to aspect provides a helpful clue in determining background and foreground, it does not definitively determine whether a verb conveys background or foreground information. More specifically, while aorist indicatives (perfective in aspect) typically structure the storyline of a narrative, sometimes aorist indicatives can encode background information (especially in subordinate clauses, in main clauses introduced by γάρ, or when nonevents). Even less consistent are imperfect indicatives (imperfective in aspect). Although they frequently serve to background information, they sometimes encode foregrounded information. This is because the main function of imperfect indicatives is not to encode background but rather (in keeping with its imperfective aspect) to portray action as being in process at that particular point in the narrative.]

Question 10

When are participles typically foreground and when primarily background?

Answer 10

1. adverbial participial phrases can be part of the mainline if they follow their main clause (such as φέροντες πρὸς αὐτὸν παραλυτικὸν following ἔρχονται here).
2. participial phrases that precede the main clause (e.g., εἰσελθὼν πάλιν εἰς Καφαρναοὺμ in 2:1) virtually always communicate backgrounded information.

Question 11

What 2 types of information typically make up background information?

Answer 11

(1) nonevents, and

2) secondary events (that is, events that are not on the mainline

Question 12

How are nonevents typically expressed?

Answer 12

with a verb of being (e.g., εἰμί) or some other verb that conveys a state (e.g., πεινάω, “to be hungry”).

Question 13

What 5 ways can nonevents be further subdivided?

Answer 13

(1) participant orientation (introduces participants; “Once upon a time, there was a wizard”),
(2) setting (tells about the time, place, or circumstances of the main events; “The days in which he lived were not bad, though troubles were on the horizon”),
(3) explanation/comment (tells why something is happening or provides further contextual detail;
“because he was old”),
(4) evaluation (tells how the author or a character regards main events; “as far as wizards go, he was not very impressive!”)
(5) discourse irrealis (tells what could have happened but did not as context for saying what did, in fact, happen—such a clause describes a nonevent because it never took place; “He considered writing a book or two but chose not to”).

Question 14

What are secondary events? And why are they background?

Answer 14

Secondary events are encoded with action verbs, and thus they are truly events, but they are secondary events because they are not part of the mainline.

Question 15

What is one of the most common ways that Greek expresses a secondary event?

Answer 15

by an adverbial participial phrase that precedes its corresponding main clause (more technically, we could say that the participial phrase is prenuclear).

Question 16

What is background and foreground in Mark 2:4, καὶ μὴ δυνάμενοι προσενέγκαι αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν ὄχλον ἀπεστέγασαν τὴν στέγην ὅπου ἦν.

Answer 16

1. Nonevent encoding background information: μὴ δυνάμενοι προσενέγκαι αὐτῷ διὰ τὸν ὄχλον (Notice that this phrase is a prenuclear adverbial participial phrase, which signals that it is backgrounded with respect to the following main clause. This participial phrase can be subclassified as discourse irrealis since it tells us what did not happen (going through the crowd) as background for what did happen (unroofing the roof). Since this participial phrase most likely has a causal relationship to the following main clause, we could also subclassify it as a nonevent of explanation, explaining why the man’s friends went to the extraordinary lengths of removing a roof—they were not able to get through the crowd. Either way, the participial phrase describes a nonevent and thus is background information.)
2. foreground: ἀπεστέγασαν τὴν στέγην ὅπου ἦν

Question 17

What is markedness?

Answer 17

the study of linguistic markers (e.g. the aorist is marked for past tense and perfective aspect)

Question 18

What does markedness pertain to?

Answer 18

It can apply to any feature of a language that entails a particular meaning or function because of a grammatical feature. (i.e. suffixes, lexical meaning, verbal aspect, ordering of words, tense, pronunciation, etc.)

Question 19

What is καθήμενοι marked for?

Answer 19

middle preference verb, imperfective aspect, plural, lexical idea of “sitting,” masculine, nominative.

Question 20

How do people misunderstand markedness?

Answer 20

Some thing that it means“important,” “emphatic,” or, “prominent” instead of giving it its correct meaning: “having a marker for a meaning or function.”

Question 21

What are different aspect markers in the tenses?

Answer 21

imperfective: present and perfect reduplication, default for ω conjugation verbs
Perfective: σ, θη, κ

Question 22

Why is the historical present so unusual?

Answer 22

Because the present tense stands out and the imperfective aspect would be unexpected

Question 23

What are the additional guidelines that will help to determine foreground and background?

Answer 23

1. Past perfective (i.e., aorist) indicatives in main clauses will almost always encode foreground material (unless they are nonevents or appear in a γάρ clause).
2. Past imperfective (i.e, imperfect) indicatives in main clauses are typically background when they appear at the beginning of an episode, that is, when they are in an episode-initial position. They are typically foreground when they appear at the end of an episode, that is, when they are in an episode-final position. When they are in the middle of an episode, or an episode-medial position, they require more analysis.

Question 24

What is the perfective aspect’s basic definition?

Answer 24

the perfective aspect presents an event in its totality as a complete whole without reference to any kind of incompleteness or ongoing situation or action. Because the perfective aspect refers to events presented in their entirety, it follows naturally that languages would use perfective aspect to communicate the sort of linear listing of past events that make up the foreground storyline of a narrative.

Question 25

Why is the imperfect a logical choice to mark background information? (like the perfect)

Answer 25

Since the imperfective aspect portrays situations as incomplete or in progress, without referring to the initiation or conclusion of an event, they are a standard means of referring to situations and actions that are taking place at the same time as the foreground storyline. Essentially, this use of the imperfective aspect portrays something as “happening” when something else “happened.” In Mark 2:13–14 the crowds were coming to Jesus (imperfective ἤρχετο), and Jesus was teaching them (impefective ἐδίδασκεν), and in the context of the activity described by these imperfective verbs, Jesus saw Levi (perfective εἶδεν), told Levi to follow him (perfective-substitute λέγει), and Levi did indeed follow (perfective ἠκολούθησεν). Note that the imperfect indicatives are in the first place used to indicate that the action is in process at the given point in the narrative; it is only as a natural byproduct of this first use that they frequently encode background material.

Question 26

Why is the perfective aspect well suited to encode the foreground?

Answer 26

its referral to events in their entirety facilitates a linear listing of past events

Question 27

Consider the following portion of Mark 2:15. καὶ πολλοὶ τελῶναι καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ συνανέκειντο τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ, ἦσαν γὰρ πολλοὶ καὶ ἠκολούθουν αὐτῷ. Which kind of background information do the various clauses convey?
1. the clause with συνανέκειντο conveys discourse irrealis, but the clauses with ἦσαν and ἠκολούθουν convey explanation
2. the clause with συνανέκειντο conveys evaluation, the clause with ἦσαν conveys setting, and the clause with ἠκολούθουν conveys explanation
3. all three clauses convey setting
4 the clause with συνανέκειντο conveys participant orientation, but the clauses with ἦσαν and ἠκολούθουν convey explanation

Answer 27

the clause with συνανέκειντο conveys participant orientation, but the clauses with ἦσαν and ἠκολούθουν convey explanation
Correct! The clause with συνανέκειντο conveys participant orientation since its clause introduces the tax collectors and sinners to the scene, but the clauses with ἦσαν and ἠκολούθουν convey explanation since they are introduced by γὰρ, explaining why many tax collectors and sinners were reclining to eat with Jesus (i.e., there were many of them and they were following Jesus).

Question 28

What is a coordinate clauses?

Answer 28

Coordination involves giving two or more phrases or clauses equal syntactical status. Here are two sets of coordinated clauses:

1. Barry sold his motorcycle, and he purchased a lifetime supply of pickles.
2. Rachel went to the library, but they did not have the book she was looking for.

Question 29

What is a subordinate clauses?

Answer 29

When one clause is syntactically dependent upon another, we describe it as a subordinate clause. A subordinate clause is sometimes called a dependent clause since it is dependent on the main clause. In other words, a subordinate or dependent clause cannot convey a complete thought on its own. Subordinate clauses in English can be of many different types. A few of these types are illustrated in what follows:

1. Relative Clause: Jim, who is a long-time friend, is a banker.
2. Temporal Clause: After he ate dinner, Steve sat down with a book beside the fireplace.
3. Causal Clause: Because Mary went on a trip, David hasn’t been eating well.

Question 30

What is usually the distinction between main clauses and subordinate clauses?

Answer 30

the main clause moves the story forward while the subordinate clause provides context for the events in the main clause.

Question 31

What are prenuclear subordinate clauses usually?

Answer 31

Prenuclear subordinate clauses in English and in Greek (and in many other languages) are virtually always are backgrounded with respect to the following main clause. We have already seen this with prenuclear participial phrases, but virtually all prenuclear subordinate clauses (whether participial, infinitival, subjunctive, etc.) are backgrounded.

Question 32

What are postnuclear subordinate clauses usually?

Answer 32

Postnuclear subordinate clauses in narrative, however, are a bit trickier since they can sometimes be foreground information.

Question 33

What are the guidelines with respect to post nuclear subordinate clauses?

Answer 33

If the event in a postnuclear subordinate clause is irrealis (that is, it describes a situation that has not yet materialized but is simply intended, desired, predicted, etc.), then treat the clause as background. Otherwise, events in postnuclear subordinate clauses will frequently be background but can also be foreground

Question 34

Καὶ μετὰ τὸ παραδοθῆναι τὸν Ἰωάννην ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ; What is foreground and what is background?

Answer 34

The subordinate (infinitival) clause μετὰ τὸ παραδοθῆναι τὸν Ἰωάννην appears before the main clause ἦλθεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν and is thus prenuclear. Like virtually all prenuclear subordinate clauses, this infinitival clause is background. In other words, the infinitival clause establishes the context (more specifically, the timing) of Jesus’ entrance into Galillee. Note that the main clause is foregrounded by the use of the aorist indicative ἦλθεν. Following the main clause (i.e., in the postnuclear position) is another subordinate clause, the participial construction κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ θεοῦ. Although prenuclear participial constructions are virtually always backgrounded, those that are postnuclear, like other postnuclear subordinate clauses, may be background or foreground. Here, since κηρύσσων describes an event that happens after Jesus’ entrance into Galillee, it sequentially advances the storyline. Jesus entered Galilee, then he preached the gospel. So the postnuclear participial construction is best understood as foreground.

Question 35

True or False? If the event in a postnuclear subordinate clause happened before the event in the main clause, then the postnuclear subordinate clause is background

Answer 35

True

Prior events will serve as background since they do not move the narrative sequentially forward.

Question 36

Which of the following help us determine whether or not the coordinated clauses in Mark 2:18 (καὶ ἔρχονται καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ) are background or foreground?

1. both clauses are perfective aspect
2. both clauses are historical presents and both clauses move the narrative forward
3. one clause has a historical present and the other does not
4. the clauses are coordinated, so they must be part of the foreground storyline

Answer 36

2. both clauses are historical presents and both clauses move the narrative forward

Question 37

Consider these words from Mark 2:12: ἐξῆλθεν ἔμπροσθεν πάντων, ὥστε ἐξίστασθαι πάντας καὶ δοξάζειν τὸν θεὸν (“he went out before all, with the result that everyone was marveling and glorifying God”). Since the “marveling” and “glorifying God” are chronologically subsequent to the event ἐξῆλθεν, which of the following is the BEST interpretation of the ὥστε clause?

1. it provides background information, presenting the circumstances that pertained when the subject departed
2. it is neither background nor foreground
3. it provides background information, describing a discourse irrealis situation
4. it moves the storyline forward as part of the foreground

Answer 37

Your answer : it moves the storyline forward as part of the foreground
The postnuclear ὥστε clause moves the action of the narrative sequentially forward, describing subsequent results of the paralyzed man’s departure, and thus should be treated as foreground.

Question 38

How is the imperfect used that is unusual?

Answer 38

The historical present is not the only example of a marked verbal form. Sometimes, for example, an imperfect indicative can be used where one would expect an aorist indicative. Consider ἔλεγον in v. 24 below: “the Pharisees were saying (ἔλεγον) to him, “Look, why are you doing on the sabbath what is not lawful?” remember that the primary function of the imperfect is to portray an event as ongoing at the given point in the story. Why then would Mark use an imperfect here? Frequently, the author wants to give special prominence to an event, that is, foreground it. In terms of marked imperfect indicatives, Mark tends to use these for foregrounding. Although we might try to read the marked imperfect in v. 24 as providing a context for Jesus’ teaching in vv. 25–28, it is more likely that the marked imperfect foregrounds the Pharisees’ question, since it is an “inciting question” for the remainder of the episode.[3] Similarly, the marked imperfect in v. 27 seems to function to highlight Jesus’ climactic and episode-final statement about the sabbath and his authority over it. We want to stress at the outset that such marked uses (excepting the historical present) do not appear that often, but you should be aware that they do appear.

Question 39

Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν παραπορεύεσθαι διὰ τῶν σπορίμων; Is this foreground or background?

Answer 39

1. Typically aorists are foreground, but this is an exception
2. Even though ἐγένετο in v. 23a is a past perfective (i.e., aorist) indicative, it is part of a special construction that encodes background, which involves the inflected form of ἐγένετο plus a subject infinitive. This is a marked construction. In other words, this particular construction routinely encodes background material despite the fact that it involves a past perfective verb, which we generally expect to encode foreground.

Question 40

True or False? An ἐγένετο + subject infinitive construction encodes background information.

Answer 40

Your answer : True

Correct! An ἐγένετο + subject infinitive construction is a marked construction that encodes background information.

Question 41

True or False? Postnuclear participles are backgrounded.

Answer 41

Your answer : False
Correct! Prenuclear participial phrases are virtually always backgrounded. Postnuclear participial phrases are sometimes backgrounded and sometimes foregrounded.

Question 42

True or False? When determining the background/foreground of the superstructure of a narrative, one should exclude verbs that appear within reported speech.

Answer 42

Your answer : True

Question 43

True or False? Past imperfective (i.e., imperfect) indicatives at the beginning of an episode tend to be foreground, while past imperfective indicatives at the end of an episode tend to be background.

Answer 43

Your answer : False
Correct! Past imperfective (i.e., imperfect) indicatives at the beginning of an episode tend to be background, while past imperfective indicatives at the end of an episode tend to be foreground.

Question 44

If an imperfect indicative depicts an event that would more naturally be depicted with an aorist indicative, what six-letter label would properly describe that imperfect?

Answer 44

marked