Opening Worlds: Narrative Beginnings and the Role of Setting

Abstract

Beginnings are central to narrative structure, shaping the reader's engagement with the storyworld. This study examines the role of setting in narrative openings, using a large-scale dataset of German-language fiction and non-fiction. Drawing on Herman's concept of "worldmaking" and Hoffmann's phenomenological model of space, we classify settings into four types: Aktionsraum (action space), gestimmter Raum (space reflecting mood and atmosphere), Anschauungsraum (field of vision), and "descriptive space". Using a multiclass text classification model, we analyze their distribution across narrative time, historical time, and genre focusing specifically on their prominence in story openings. Our findings show that openings tend to prioritize establishing what the depicted world feels and looks like, emphasizing affect and visual description before shifting toward movement and the mobilization of setting through dynamic character interaction. Comparative and historical analyses reveal that these trends are unique to fiction and have increased over time. By leveraging computational models, we provide an empirical foundation for understanding how narrative beginnings structure fictional worlds