叙事学（英语：narratology）是关于叙事、叙事结构及这两者如何影响我们的知觉的理论及研究。托多洛夫（Tzvetan Todorov）在他的《十日谭的文法（Grammaire du Décaméron）》（1969年）中创造了这个词（法语：narratologie）。

叙事学的研究对象是各种被叙述后的文本（narrated text），包括了虚构文体（文学、诗等）及纪实文体（史学、学术出版品等），也包括了戏剧结构、情节发展工具、角色描写、场景、类型及文学技巧。虽然“叙事学”一词常被用在虚构文本上，但这并不代表纪实文本及其它形式的虚构（戏剧、电影、电子娱乐等）在叙事学的研究领域之外。

Narratology refers to both the theory and the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. While in principle the word may refer to any systematic study of narrative, in practice its usage is rather more restricted. It is an anglicisation of French narratologie, coined by Tzvetan Todorov (Grammaire du Décaméron, 1969). Narratology is applied retrospectively as well to work predating its coinage. Its theoretical lineage is traceable to Aristotle (Poetics) but modern narratology is agreed to have begun with the Russian Formalists, particularly Vladimir Propp (Morphology of the Folktale, 1928).