Narrative Paradigm Theory Flashcards
What is Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm Theory?
Fisher believes we are storytelling animals who experience and comprehend life as a series of ongoing narratives, as conflicts, characters, beginnings, middles and ends
What is narration?
symbolic actions (words/deeds) that have sequence and meaning for those who live, create or interpret them
What is paradigm?
conceptual framework; universal model that calls for people to view events through a common interpretive lens
What is the rational world?
scientific/philosophical approach to knowledge that assumes people are logical, making decisions on the basis of evidence and lines of argument
What is rationality determined by?
how much we know and how much we argue
What is narrative paradigm?
Theoretical framework that views narrative as basis of all human communication
- people are storytellers
- we make decisions on the basis of good reasons
-history, biography, culture, and character determine what we consider good reasons
What is narrative rationality?
way to evaluate the world of stories based on the twin standards of narrative coherence and narrative fidelity
What is narrative coherence?
internal consistency with characters acting in a reliable fashion; the story hangs together
What is narrative fidelity?
congruence between values embedded in a message and what listeners regard as truthful and humane; the story strikes a responsive chord
What are the logic of good reasons?
Values embedded in messages, relevance of those values to decisions made, consequences of adhering to those values, overlap w/ worldview of audience, conformity with what audience members believe is “an ideal basis for conduct”
What is an ideal audience?
actual community existing over time that believes in values of truth, good health, wisdom, etc.
What happens when we judge a story to have fidelity?
we are opening ourselves to the possibly that those values will influence our beliefs and actions
