Narrative Paradigm & Social Media Narrativity

Narrative Paradigm (1984) Theory Originator:

-Walter Fisher

Interpretive Epistemology

Narrative Paradigm Reworking of Aristotelian analysis People are storytelling animals & narrative beings Rhetoric = not only evidence, facts, arguments, reason,

& logic Offering good reasons = telling compelling story (not

just piling evidence/constructing tight argument) All com that appeals to reason best viewed as stories Stories shaped by history, culture, & character All types of com = stories (Fisher)

Key Terms

Narration (Telling the Story)&

Paradigm (Worldview)

2 Standards for Good Stories

Narrative Coherence Does story hang together? How probable does it sound? Internal consistency (similar to lines of argument in

rational paradigm) Convinced if narrator

Hasn’t left out important details Fudged the facts Ignored other possible interpretations

Judge by comparing to other stories of same theme Ultimate test = if characters act consistently with

their character (in reliable manner)

Narrative Fidelity• Does story ring true with listeners?• Quality of story causes responsive chord with life of listener• Example = Hi Fi record player• Story may be fiction but should still resonate (ring true)• Similar to stories listeners may tell about themselves• Has fidelity = provides reasons to guide future actions (buy

into character we should be)• Values are the theory’s logic of good reasons• Specific values that guide audience to gauge story’s truth or

fidelity

Humans are predisposed to“story” their experiences &thereby impose a narrative

interpretation upon informationand experience.

(Doyle & Carter, 2003)

Narrative and Learning w/ Web 2.0 Pachler & Daly 2009

• Learning = adaptation to make sense of our physical and sociocultural context…and as a continually refining capacity…to intelligently navigate an ever changing social, cultural, and physical world.

• Narrative (Storytelling): offering an organizational frame for new experiences and knowledge creation and building. (Falk & Dierking, 2000; Pachler & Daly, 2009)

Narrative Learning Trail:

Individuals are seen as engaging with a complex interactive process when learning within a

particular environment. It involves the appropriation of a range of resources available

to the individual organized and activated through chaining. (Walker, 2006)

Who Are Trail Makers?

Narrative Learning Trail Authors have AGENCY = They have the capacity to make choices about what counts as

knowledge/reality.

What about Web 2.0? 3.0?

Author/Agentive processes of structuring and meaning-making are necessary to

participate in a disparate, distributed and ill-defined information environment.

(Pachler & Daly, 2009)

Sense-Making Assumptions of Social Media Spaces:

>Knowledgeable Readers Familiar with Content of Interest (OR)

>If Not Knowledgeable, then Experienced with Social Spaces to Know How to Engage with the Unfamiliar

2 EXAMPLES

1. How do readers/viewers/users navigate through www.behance.net? Read comments and see if you can discern common stories.

2. How do readers/viewers tell stories about “creepers” on Twitter? Use www.listoftweets.com and generate a list of tweets about this phenomenon. What narratives do you see emerging?