Franz Karl Stanzel (4 August 1923 – 17 October 2023) was an Austrian literary theorist who specialised in English literature.
Born in Molln, Austria, Stanzel finished his degree with Herbert Koziol in Graz.
Despite much criticism, his typological circle of three narrative situations is still taught in introductions to German literary studies at German universities (e. g. the introductions of the famous literary scholar Ansgar Nünning).
From the late 1990s, there was a stronger competition by the narrative model of the French narratologist Gérard Genette in Germany.
"The figural narrative situation" is marked by the dominance of the reflector mode, restricting to a factual representation or using internal focalisation to create the impression of immediacy.