Study of the cognitive dimensions of stories and storytelling has become an important subdomain within the field of narrative analysis. Concerned both with how people understand narratives and with narrative itself as a mode of understanding, cognitive approaches have emerged from a larger ‘narrative turn’ unfolding across many disciplines. This article surveys specific analytic paradigms that have helped shape cognitive narrative analysis, including structuralist narratology, artificial-intelligence research, cognitive linguistics, and discursive psychology, and traces forward the influence of these paradigms on some of the main trends within the field. Furthermore, after discussing criticisms leveled against cognitive approaches, the article outlines areas of concern that can be viewed as targets for future research.