NARRATIVE PARADIGM

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NARRATIVE PARADIGM

• Of Walter Fisher

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Basic Ideas

• People are storytelling animals we are narrative
  beings, before we are rational, curious or
  symbol-using
• All reason-based communication is narrative
• Narration is communication rooted in time and
  space
• Narratives are interpreted through the lens of
  paradigms - common interpretive lenses
• Through history we can detect paradigm shifts
  from story to philosophy to science (rational
  world)

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Rational-World Paradigm

• People are essentially rational
• We make decisions on the basis of arguments
• They type of speaking situation determines the
  course of our argument
• Rationality is determined by how much we know and
  how well we argue
• The world is a set of logical puzzles that we can
  solve through rational analysis.

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Rational Paradigm

• People are essentially storytellers
• We make decisions on the basis of good reasons
• History, biography, culture and character
  determine what we consider good reasons
• Narrative rationality is determined by coherence
  and fidelity of our stories
• The world is a set of stories from which we
  choose and thus constantly recreate, our lives.

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Implications of rational paradigm

• Knowledge is that which is observable in the real
  world
• Experts are the only one qualified to judge what
  is true
• That which is not formally logical, or not
  characterized by expertise, is of secondary
  importance

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Implications of narrative rationality

• Values are the essence of our stories
• Aesthetics style and beauty matter
• Almost anyone can see the point of a good story
  and judge its merits

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Coherence and Fidelity in Narrative Rationality

• Quality of a story determined by coherence and
  fidelity
• Coherence
• how probable does story seem?
• are important details included?
• how does it compare with other stories?
• do characters behave/think consistently?
• Fidelity
• does it ring true to experience?
• does it provide good reasons to guide our
  future actions?
• is the story imbued with values?

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FIDELITY, VALUES and GOOD REASONS

• Audience concerned with values embedded in the
  message
• Relevance of values to decisions made
• Consequence of adhering to values
• Overlap with audience worldview
• Conforms to audience ideas of ideal basis for
  conduct

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THE NATURE OF VALUES

• Values are typically ideas about what constitutes
  truth, good, beauty, health, wisdom, courage,
  temperance, justice, harmony, order, communion,
  friendship, and oneness with the Cosmos
• In judging a story to have fidelity, we affirm
  shared values, and we allow those values to shape
  our beliefs and actions.

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CRITIQUE

• Anyone can judge the quality of
  narrative/rhetoric
• Concept of narrative as encompassing all
  communication may be too broad
• Does not specify HOW values are recognized in
  narratives or in an audience
• Does not account for the attraction of evil
  texts such as that of Mein Kampf
• Does it leave room for texts that go beyond, that
  attempt to LEAD rather than REFLECT audience
  values
• Does not attend to the oppressive power of
  corporate media