# Focalization and narrative information

Select or restrict information available to readers according to the knowledge and experience of narrators or characters.

 Theory · Writing and publishing


## Core concepts
  Narration: who tells the story
 Information scope: what is known and shown
 Consistency: preserve or deliberately alter the work’s disclosure rules
 

## Application
 Use this concept to review viewpoint shifts, hidden information, inner experience or excessive explanation introduced in translation.


## Limitations and jurisdiction
 Scholars distinguish the concepts differently. Grammatical person alone does not determine a type of focalization.


## Editorial perspectives
  Restrict information: invite inference within a character’s knowledge.
 Expand information: show relationships using information beyond the character.
 

## Sources
 Burkhard Niederhoff · The Living Handbook of Narratology · Revised scholarly entry, 2013
[Focalization](https://www-archiv.fdm.uni-hamburg.de/lhn/node/18.html) Context: International reference; verify the application environment
 Source checked: 2026-10-07
 Independent editorial summary and source link; the original text is not republished.


## Related personas
  [Novelist](https://personawiki.app/en/personas/novelist)

## Translation status
 Editorial English translation of the Korean edition. No professional translation or occupational expert review has been completed. Translation does not change the source jurisdiction.
 Translation prepared: 2026-10-08 · Source fingerprint: kb-c9a9d15a9dacfe12
[Korean source](https://personawiki.app/knowledge/focalization)

## API
[JSON document](https://personawiki.app/api/v1/knowledge/focalization?lang=en)