Does point of view have a history?

[nancylebov]

Point of view is a big topic for the writers about sf writing I happen to read.

I assume there was a time when writers focused on other things. Tone? Plot structure? Pacing? Something else?

Was there a point when point of view was discovered as an important factor in stories?

Comments

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

As a data point: Wayne C. Booth's A Rhetoric of Fiction, which was a standard introductory text to litcrit back in the early '80s, point of view is mentioned frequently, but does not (AFAICT) appear as even a subchapter heading. For whatever it's worth....

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

In Elementary School, we were expected to know whether a story was told from a 1st-, 2nd-, or 3rd-person POV. In Middle and High School, some discussion of type fo narration - point of view i realize now in retrospect - and how it impacted the story, or how a different narration style might change the story or shed different light on it. So, as i was schooled, type of narration was an element to consider, as it can drive plot structure, or plot structure can be created and from that determine which narration style(s) to use.

Tone is an overarching thing, as is pacing, and are dependent on plot more than narration, though narration informs pacing and vice-versa.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Ok, the history of point of view now splits into two questions. When did critics/literary theorists start noticing it, and does writers' interest in it wax and wane?