The influence of tense interpretation on discourse coherence — A comparison between Mandarin narrative and report discourse

• Narrative and report differ in the strategies of maintaining discourse coherence.
• The differences are due to two types of tense interpretation-continuity and deixis.
• Continuity maintains narrative discourse coherence in more apparent ways.
• Deixis produces a comparatively non-compact relation between adjacent utterances.
• Referential choice and adopting bei-object as new Cb reflect such distinction.

“Narrative” and “report” are temporal discourse modes that receive different tense interpretations. Adopting Centering Theory as its analytical tool, this article focuses on extended temporal structures in both modes that involve the Mandarin bei-passive construction. By tracking the behavior of an attention-focusing element called the backward-looking center (Cb), the author demonstrates that narrative and report discourse pattern differently in their strategies for maintaining discourse coherence. These differences are attributed to the divergence in the standard tense interpretation of these two modes: continuity (narrative mode) vs. deixis (report mode). The former tense interpretation maintains discourse coherence in more apparent ways, for example through the use of pronominal forms and the inter-sentential function of the bei-object. The latter tense interpretation produces a comparatively non-compact relation between two adjacent utterances. Deixis does, however, make possible both multiple Cb branching and multiple Cb retention, which together form a “last resort” strategy for preserving the coherence of report discourse.