COMM

674 Social Entrepreneurship Walter Fishers Narrative Paradigm Overview

People are storytelling animals; almost all forms of human communication are fundamentally narrative. Listeners judge a story by whether it hangs together and rings true with the values of an ideal audience. Thus, narrative rationality is a matter of coherence and fidelity. Storytelling Epitomizes Human Nature All forms of human communication that appeal to our reason are stories. Offering good reasons has more to do with telling a compelling story than it does with piling up evidence or constructing a tight argument.

Narration Fisher defines narration as symbolic actionswords and/or deedsthat have sequence and meaning for those who live, create, and interpret them. Fishers definition is broad. Narration covers every aspect of life with regard to character, motive, and action. It refers to verbal and nonverbal messages. Paradigm Shift: From a Rational-world Paradigm to a Narrative One The mind-set of the reigning technical experts is the rational-world paradigm. People are essentially rational. We make decisions on the basis of arguments. The type of speaking situation (legal, scientific, legislative) 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. The narrative paradigm is built on parallel, yet contrasting, premises. People are essentially storytellers. We make decisions on the basis of good reason, which vary depending on the communication situation, media, and genre (philosophical, technical, rhetorical, or artistic). History, biography, culture, and character determine what we consider good reasons. The world is a set of stories from which we choose, and thus constantly re-create, our lives. Unlike the rational-world paradigm, the narrative paradigm privileges values, aesthetic criteria, and commonsense interpretation.

Narrative Rationality: Coherence and Fidelity We judge stories based on narrative rationality. Fisher believes that everyone applies the same standards of narrative rationality to stories. The twin tests of a story are narrative coherence and narrative fidelity. Narrative Coherence: Does the story hang together? How probable is the story to the hearer? Narrative consistency parallels lines of argument in the rational-world paradigm. The test of reason, however, is only one factor affecting narrative coherence. Coherence can be assessed by comparing a story to others with a similar theme. The ultimate test of narrative coherence is whether or not we can count on the characters to act in a reliable manner. Narrative Fidelity: Does the story ring true and humane? Does the story square with the hearers experiences? A story has fidelity when it provides good reasons to guide our future actions. Values set the narrative paradigms logic of good reasons apart from the rational- world paradigms logic of reasons. People tend to prefer accounts that fit with what they view as truthful and humane. These stories include the timeless values of truth, the good, beauty, health, wisdom, courage, temperance, justice, harmony, order, communion, friendship, and oneness with the Cosmos. Communities not based on humane virtues are possible, but Fisher believes these less idealistic value systems lack true coherence. Judging a story to have fidelity means we believe shared values can influence belief and action. Almost all communication is narrative, and we evaluate it on that basis.