Actant

In narrative theory, an actant in the actantial model of semiotic narrative analysis describes the roles different characters have in advancing a narrative. Bruno Latour writes,

An “actor” in [actor-network theory] is a semiotic definition -an actant-, that is, something that acts or to which activity is granted by others. It implies no special motivation of human individual actors, nor of humans in general. An actant can literally be anything provided it is granted to be the source of an action.^[1]

The term actant also has uses in linguistics, sociology, computer programming theory, and astrology.