Narrative


 * Definition and Etymology**

The word narrative is likely derived from the Latin words narrāre, meaning to relate or recount, and narrātiō, which refers to a story, a tale, or a section of a speech establishing the facts of a case (Oxford English Dictionary, 2012, n.p.). According to the Oxford English Dictionary (2012), one of the oldest uses of narrative was in a legal context, meaning “A part of a legal document which contains a statement of alleged or relevant facts closely connected with the matter or purpose of the document” (n.p.).

In some contexts such as the study of literature and literary criticism, narrative has been defined narrowly as a series of events or facts within a story. For example, Jahn (2005) defines narrative as “a form of communication which presents a sequence of events caused and experienced by characters” (n.p.). This usage can be traced back in English to the late sixteenth century (Oxford English Dictionary, 2012, n.p.).

Narrative has been studied in such fields as: rhetoric, literary theory, philosophy, history (see for example: White, 1980), psychology, political communication, journalism, studies of folklore, persuasion theory, and media studies. However, this entry will pay special attention to narrative as it has been studied within literary theory, rhetorical studies, and political communication.


 * The Structural Approach To Narrative **

Outside of communication studies, narrative has been conceptualized within the structural tradition of literary theory. In this context, narrative can be used as a method of textual classification or analysis. The study of narratology, a sub-field of literary theory, aims to investigate and “dissect the narrative phenomena into their component parts,” with the goal of understanding how a narrative’s elements relate to one another (Jahn, 2005, n.p.). According to Jahn (2005), narratologists use the term narrative to describe texts that are both fictional and non-fictional (i.e. an anecdote or a news story).

Todorov (1971) asks, “what is it that makes [a] narrative?” (p. 31). Todorov (1971) argues that narratives operate under two principles First, all narratives exhibit succession, or a series of facts, events, or actions. Narratives are also defined by transformation, meaning that the elements of a given narrative always undergo some kind of change. Later work by Todorov (1980) distinguishes between a narrative’s “story” (the events as they are experienced by characters) and its “discourse” (the narrative as it is recounted to, or experienced by, the audience). This distinction between the reality experienced by a narrative’s characters and its readers has become important in conceptualizing narrative within literary studies.


 * Narrative in Political Communication and Journalism**

In communication, scholars have studied narrative’s role in politics and their use in news media. For example, Bennett & Edelman (1985) present a pessimistic view of political narrative, arguing that narratives transmitted through mass media act as barriers to solving social problems by casting policy issues in simplistic, ideological terms (p.158). For Bennett & Edelman (1985), the power of narratives to label political participants as “heroes” or “villains” or “deserving” or “undeserving” create “public policies that are rationalized by the construction of social problems for which they become solutions” (p. 159). Other scholars have also examined the ways in which journalists use narratives in the construction of news content (see for example: Lule, 2001, p. 11-26; Gans, 1979, p. 78-115).


 * Narrative and Persuasion**

In psychological and social scientific communication research, narratives have been considered for their persuasive effects. Several theories have been presented for how narrative messages are processed by recipients. For example, Green & Brock (2000) proposed the transportation mechanism for narrative processing. The researchers hypothesized that readers may become transported into a fictional world when they become immersed in a narrative, and tested the extent to which narrative transportation can influence beliefs (Green & Brock, 2000). Building on transportation theory, Moyer-Gusé (2008) has studied how narrative messages are processed in the context of entertainment education. For a further discussion of the role of transportation in the processing of media narratives, see Appel & Richter (2007).


 * Narrative in Rhetorical Studies**

Narrative is considered to be a major approach to rhetorical criticism (Burgchardt, 1995, p. 271). Within rhetorical studies, narrative has been theorized as a rhetorical paradigm, and has been used in the analysis of various case studies from the speeches of Ronald Reagan to the rhetoric of the American Civil Rights movement (see for example: Lewis, 1987; Selby, 2008).

Narration appears in Aristotle’s ancient treatise on rhetoric, and is defined as a primary component of a speech. In a section discussing the organization of speeches, Aristotle (2007) conceives of the narrative as the part of the speech in which a speaker leads the audience “through the facts” of the speaker’s subject or case (p. 238). The narrative section of the speech should vary according to the type of speech delivered.

In an influential work, Fisher (1984) has argued that narrative is a fundamental paradigm of human communication. Under the narrative paradigm, human beings are defined by their roles as storytellers, and narrative is a constitutive part of human nature. According to Fisher (1984), rhetoric is “communicated ultimately as stories meant to give order to human experience” (p. 6). Furthermore, narrative can be conceived as an alternative to rationality as a way of understanding the world, and is more intuitive than reason because it does not need to be taught Fisher’s narrative paradigm has since been critiqued and expanded upon (for more on the narrative paradigm, see also Fisher, 1985; Fisher, 1989).

Written By Paul McKean, August 2012.

include component="comments" page="page:Narrative" limit="10"


 * References**

Appel, M. & Richter, T. (2007). Persuasive effects of fictional narratives increase over time. //Media Psychology.// 10, 113-134.

Aristotle. (2007). //On rhetoric: a theory of civic discourse.// (G.A. Kennedy, Trans.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Burgchardt, C.R. (1995). Narrative criticism. In C.R. Burgchardt (Ed.), //Readings in Rhetorical// //Criticism// (pp. 271-272). State College, PA: Strata Publishing.

Fisher, W.R. (1984). Narration as a human communication paradigm: the case of public moral argument. //Communication Monographs.// 51, 1-22.

Fisher, W.R. (1985). The narrative paradigm: an elaboration. //Communication Monographs.// 52, 347-367.

Fisher, W.R. (1989). Clarifying the narrative paradigm. //Communication Monographs.// 56, 55-58.

Gans, H. (1979). The organization of story selection. Story suitability. //Deciding what’s news//. NY: Pantheon Books.

Green, M.C. & Brock, T.C. (2000). The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives. //Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.// 79(5), 701-721.

Jahn, M. (2005). Narratology: a guide to the theory of narrative. English Department, University of Cologne. Retrieved from []

Lewis, W.F. (1987). Telling America’s story: narrative form and the Reagan presidency. //Quarterly Journal of Speech.// 73(3), 280-303.

Lule, J. (2001). Seven master myths in the news. The other world: Haiti and international news values. //Daily news, eternal stories//. NY: Guilford.

Moyer-Gusé, E. (2008). Toward a theory of entertainment persuasion: explaining the persuasive effects of entertainment-education messages. //Communication Theory.// 18, 407-425.

Narration. (n.d.) In Oxford English Dictionary online. Retrieved from []

Narrative. (n.d.) In Oxford English Dictionary online. Retrieved from []

Scott, R.L. (1984). Narrative theory and communication research. //Quarterly Journal of Speech//. 70, 197-221.

Selby, G.S. (2008). //Martin Luther King and the rhetoric of freedom: the Exodus narrative in// //America’s struggle for civil rights.// Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.

Todorov, T. (1971). The 2 principles of narrative. //Diacritics.// 1(1), 37-44.

Todorov, T. (1980). The categories of literary narrative. //Paper on Language & Literature.// 16(1), 3-36.

White, H. (1980). The value of narrativity in the representation of reality. //Critical Inquiry.// 7(1), 5-27.