Wacana : Jurnal Bahasa, Seni, dan Pengajaran
Vol 9 No 2 (2025): Oktober 2025

Narrator and Modality in Frau Holle's Fairy Tale

Utami, Alvidya Nisa (Unknown)
Pratita, Ina Ika (Unknown)
Nasrullah, Riki (Unknown)
Sodiq, Syamsul (Unknown)
Kurniawati, Wisma (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
06 Oct 2025

Abstract

The fairy tale Frau Holle by the Brothers Grimm presents a distinctive narrative structure, featuring an omniscient narrator and a strong moral message conveyed both implicitly and explicitly. This study addresses the characteristics of the narrator and the forms of modality used to construct meaning within the text. The research aims to examine the narrator's role in storytelling and to identify the types of modality it contains. A qualitative method is applied, using content analysis on relevant narrative excerpts from the fairy tale.The results indicate that the narrator is heterodiegetic and omniscient, which allows the narrative to be delivered with seeming objectivity while remaining laden with normative judgments. The dominant modalities are deontic (relating to obligation and prohibition) and epistemic (relating to certainty and possibility). These are used strategically to shape the reader's perception of characters, their actions, and the consequences they receive. Moreover, these modalities reinforce moral values such as hard work, obedience, and justice, which form the foundation of the story's ethical message. This study finds that the narrator and modality play a significant role in shaping meaning, moral evaluation, and the educational function of traditional literary texts.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

bind

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

Wacana : Jurnal Bahasa, Seni, dan Pengajaran diterbitkan pada bulan April dan Oktober oleh Universitas Nusantara PGRI Kediri. Artikel yang dimuat merupakan hasil penelitian bahasa, seni, dan pengajarannya, yang belum dimuat dalam media cetak dan elektronik lain. Fokus dan scope meliputi : 1. ...