Aim Workshop Wodak Narratives190309

(Critical) Approaches to Narrative AnalysisAnalysis

RUTH WODAKDISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF DISCOURSE STUDIESLANCASTER UNIVERSITYhttp://www.ling.lancs.ac.uk/profiles/Ruth-Wodak/

Definitions

‘Grand narratives’ storiesGrand narratives , stories, accounts, examples, etc.

Ruth Wodak, AIM Workshop, London 190309

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Why study/analyze narratives?

• ‘The essence of humanness, long characterized as the tendency to make ysense of the world through rationality, has come increasingly to be described as thecome increasingly to be described as the tendency to tell stories, to make sense of the world through narrative ’ (Johnstonethe world through narrative. (Johnstone 2001: 635)

3Ruth Wodak, AIM Workshop, London 190309

Narratives and IdentitiesNarratives and IdentitiesThe construction of national identities always necessarily

draws on narratives which relate the past, present and future in specific ways:p y“To put it in a nutshell, the identity narrative channels political emotions so that they can fuel efforts to modify a balance of power; it transformsefforts to modify a balance of power; it transforms the perceptions of the past and of the present; it changes the organization of human groups and creates new ones; it alters cultures by emphasizingcreates new ones; it alters cultures by emphasizing certain traits and skewing their meanings and logic. The identity narrative brings forth a new interpretation of the world in order to modify itinterpretation of the world in order to modify it (Martin 1995, 13).


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Myths and ‘Sense making’Myths and Sense-makingf f f f• If the form of a myth as a narrative is a model for making sense of experience, then the content of particular myths embodies and makes possible this model. …The socialembodies and makes possible this model. …The social meanings of myth may become identified with the fundamental organization of understanding by which the mind k it lf d it ld F thi it i t th t ifknows itself and its world. For this reason, it is apparent that if we are fully to understand and explain specific human actions, we must be able to relate those actions to the social narratives or myths of the society to which the actor belongs. It is at least partly through these myths that s/he makes sense of his world and thus the meaning of their actions canof his world, and thus the meaning of their actions …. can only be grasped through a knowledge of the structure and meaning of the myth. (Wright 1977, p.194).

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London 190309

Sociolinguistic Perspectives –Constructing Identities• Narratives can provide…a SOCIOLINGUISTIC SELF-

PORTRAIT: a linguistic lens through which to discover people’s on views of themselves (as situated within bothpeople s on views of themselves (as situated within both an ongoing interaction and a larger social structure) and their experiences. Since the situations that speakers p pcreate through narratives—the transformations of experience enabled by the story world—are also open to

l i i h i i l ld h lf ievaluation in the interactional world, these self-portraits can create an interactional arena in which the speaker’s view of self and world can be reinforced or challengedview of self and world can be reinforced or challenged (Schiffrin, 1997, pp. 42, emphasis in the original).


Two Examples – DiscourseTwo Examples – Discourse and Narrative

Fables Myths Experiences –Fables, Myths, Experiences ‘post-hoc coherence’ (Wodak, 2009)

Meanings of ‘Discourse’?Meanings of Discourse ?A SPECIFIC ‘DISCOURSE’ (‘ +D’) (R i t S i t ti l• A SPECIFIC ‘DISCOURSE’ (‘x+D’) (Racist, Sexist, national, liberal, conservative, historical, security, globalisation…)

• ‘DISCOURSE OF’ (Discourse of the EU, Discourse of an i ti f f Hill Cli t )organisation, of men or women, of Hillary Clinton, ….)

• ‘DISCOURSE ABOUT’ (unemployment, racism, enlargement…)• ‘MODE + DISCOURSE’ (visual discourse, written discourse, ( , ,

spoken discourse…)• DISCOURSE as ‘metaphor’ (lieu de mémoire, as building, as

language, as image….)language, as image….)• Different language-specific meanings (‘spoken language’,

‘structures of knowledge’…)

Ruth Wodak, ESRC - DA Seminar; Colchester 15/10/08

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DISCOURSE TEXT GENREDISCOURSE, TEXT, GENRE Discourse implies patterns and commonalities of• Discourse implies patterns and commonalities of knowledge and structures;

• Text is a specific and unique realization of a discourse. p qTexts belong to “genres”.

• ‘Genre’: ‘a socially ratified way of using language in connection with a particular type of social activity’connection with a particular type of social activity (Fairclough 1995: 14).

• Text creates sense when its manifest and latent meanings are read in connection with knowledge ofmeanings are read in connection with knowledge of the world (‘context models’, ‘shared knowledge’, ‘collective memories’ - ‘Resonance’)

CADAAD 11/07/2008, Ruth Wodak

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Intertextuality, Interdiscursivity, Recontextualisation, Resonance

Intertextuality: elements of other texts (words• Intertextuality: elements of other texts (words, phrases, larger elements, quotes, arguments, etc) incorporated within a text

• Interdiscursivity: combination of different discourses (in one or more genre/s).

• Recontextualisation: Practices strategies discourses• Recontextualisation: Practices, strategies, discourses, arguments may move from one ‘context’, sphere, field, scale to another (Iedema 1997; Wodak 2000)

• Recontextualized elements transformed according to the ‘recontextualizing principles’ of the receiving context (‘resonance’)( )


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An example from Aesop’s fablesAn example from Aesop s fablesThe Hare and the Tortoise

A hare one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing: “Though you be swift as the , p , g g g ywind, I will beat you in a race.” The Hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal; and they agreed that the Tortoise should choose the courseand they agreed that the Tortoise should choose the course and fix the goal. On the day appointed for the race the two started together. The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the endbut went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep. At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal and washe saw the Tortoise had reached the goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue. Slow but steady wins the race.


Everyday Discrimination – Prejudice Stories

F2: No - she she had kind of a seat behind her and there Constructing contrast

was her child like she had I think (.) and she had ehm (.) eh the bike in her hand or something - I can’t remember (.) and she goes really sweetly to the child ‘look sweetie’

Constructing contrastBetween expectations

and experience

( ) g y yyes that ehm und right away I thought eh she wants to say something say something nice (.) because she also said it loud so we could hear it well she goes ‘they are

Scenic story,performed: how kids

Are taught/Socialised intoStereotypes, and into group g y

Tschuschen say Tschuschen to them’ (.) and the child just gazes calmly. Referential strategy

‘tschuschoj’ means‘foreigner’

and into groupconstruction

Evidence for recontextualisation of elite

Discourses and resona-ting belief systems


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PREJUDICE STORIES II (‘THE GAZE’)PREJUDICE STORIES II ( THE GAZE )

• It can be hard to feel really at home in Britain [ ] people look at• It can be hard to feel really at home in Britain […] people look at you like you sometimes (.) like you shouldn’t be there and (1.0) like they don’t want you there (UK, Pakistan, F, 42)

• [ ] when you walk around the city people look at me ( ) They do[…] when you walk around the city people look at me (.) They do not want migrants to be seen […] Sometimes you are afraid to go out (↓) (SW, Turkey, F, shawl)

• […] lots of young people were standing around us (-) and just [ ] y g p p g ( ) jlooking at me (-) with my pitch-black HAIR (-) tanned skin (laughs) and dressed like ah a southerner (--) and then it got really uncomfortable (-) suddenly (-) so we left the fair pretty quickly ( ) and drove back to the youth hostel ( ) and I didn‘t dare goquickly (-) and drove back to the youth hostel (-) and I didn t dare go out on the street anymore (-) I couldn’t wait (-) for the day (.) that we drove back two days later (--) it was not a great (--) great (.) great time (G, Italy, M, 31)( , y, , )


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Four Level Model of ‘Context’Four-Level Model of Context

• the immediate, language or text internal co-text;• the intertextual and interdiscursive relationship between

tt t t d diutterances, texts, genres and discourses;• the extralinguistic social/sociological variables and

institutional frames of a specific “context of situation”;institutional frames of a specific context of situation ;• the broader socio-political and historical contexts, to

which the discursive practices are embedded in andwhich the discursive practices are embedded in and related.(Wodak 2001, 2004, 2008)


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Defining Narrative

Narrative & GenreNarrative & Genre

A definition of verbal narrativeA definition of verbal narrative

• A narrative can be defined as the telling of a series of two or more interconnected events, normally involving one or more agents/participants A narrative has aagents/participants. A narrative has a ‘point’ or is ‘tellable’ in the context within which it occurswhich it occurs.


Narrative as a ‘pre-genre’ (Swales 1990)

‘ ti ( k itt ) t• ‘narration (spoken or written) operates through a framework of temporal succession in which at least some of the events are reactions to the previous events. Further characteristics of narrative are that such discourses tend to be strongly oriented towards the agents of the events being described, rather than to the events gthemselves, and that the structure is typically that of a ‘plot’.’ (Swales 1990: 61)yp y p ( )


Narrative and genreNarrative and genre

• Some types of narratives have acquired the status of genres, such as:g ,

Fairy tales– Fairy tales– Novels and short stories– News reports– Etc.


Analysis of Narratives

Narratemes reported speechNarratemes, reported speech, deixis, sequential analysis,

argumentation etcargumentation, etc.


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‘Morphology’ of Stories –‘narratemes’ (Propp, 1962; Wright, 1977)

• By deconstructing a large number of Russian folk tales into their smallest narrative units –narratemes – Propp was able to arrive at a typology of narrative structures: thirty-one generic narratemes for the genre of the Russian folk tale. While not all are always present, he found that all the tales he analysed displayed the thirty one functions in unvarying sequence performed by eight characters (hero, villain, victim, and so forth).


Propp’s functions adapted by Wright (Wild West films)

‘A b f f il l h (th h i i t d d)• ‘A member of a family leaves home (the hero is introduced);• The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale);• The villain gains information about the victim;• Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy;• Villain causes harm/injury to family member; • Misfortune or lack is made known; • Hero leaves home;• Hero acquires use of a magical agent; • Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;• Hero and villain join in direct combat;• Villain is defeated; • Initial misfortune or lack is resolved; • Hero returns;• Task is resolved;• Hero is recognised; • Villain is punished’.• Ruth Wodak, AIM Workshop,

London 19030921

• For example, narratives can be found in:

– Informal conversationP l l tt– Personal letters

– Academic articles – Speeches– Media reportingMedia reporting– etc.


Narrative and temporal sequencesNarrative and temporal sequences

• The series of events that a narrative is about, in their chronological order (known , g (as ‘fabula’, ‘histoire’ or ‘story’)

vsvs.• The way in which these events are told,

including the sequence in which they are presented (known as ‘sjuzhet’, ‘discours’presented (known as sjuzhet , discours or ‘discourse’).


NarratorsNarrators

• Distinction between ‘teller’ and ‘tale’.

• Distinction between ‘who tells’ and ‘who• Distinction between who tells and who sees’.

• Distinction between first-person and third-Distinction between first person and thirdperson narrators.


Oral narratives and turn takingOral narratives and turn-taking

• Narratives as extended conversational turns

C ll b ti ti• Collaborative narratives

• Sequential narratives


Labov’s (1972) approach to the structure of oral narratives of personal

experienceexperience• Study of personal narratives told by black y p y

youngsters and adults in south-central Harlem.• Model of the main elements included in theseModel of the main elements included in these

narratives.• Emphasis on evaluation in narratives i e the• Emphasis on evaluation in narratives, i.e. the

devices used to convey the ‘point’ or’ tellability’ of storiesof stories.(For a more recent paper by Labov on personal narratives see: http://www ling upenn edu/~wlabov/Papers/FebOralNarPE pdf)http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~wlabov/Papers/FebOralNarPE.pdf)


Elements of oral narratives

Function Example

Abstract Announcement that speaker has a story to

‘three weeks ago I had a fight with this other dude

tell, and brief summary outside’Orientation Introduction of

characters, time, place ‘I was sitting on the corner and’ shit, smoking , , p

and situation., g

my cigarette, you know’Complicating action Narration of core

sequence of events‘I put that cigarette down, and [ ] I beat the shitsequence of events. and […] I beat the shit out of that motherfucker’

Evaluation Indications of the point of the story why it is worth

‘But it was quite an experience’ ‘I wasthe story, why it is worth

telling and listening to. experience , I was shaking like a leaf’

Result or resolution Indication of what finally ‘After all that I gave the happened. dude a cigarette, after all

that’Coda Indication that the story ‘And that was that’

is over and connection with the ongoing talk. 27Ruth Wodak, AIM Workshop,

London 190309

Stories as examples: Topoi-Definition

Within argumentation theory, “topoi” or “loci” can be described as parts of argumentation which belong to th bli t ith li it i f bl ithe obligatory, either explicit or inferable premises. They are the content-related warrants or “conclusion rules” which connect the argument or argumentsrules which connect the argument or arguments with the conclusion, the claim. As such, they justify the transition from the argument or arguments to thethe transition from the argument or arguments to the conclusion (Kienpointner 1992: 194).


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Argumentation (Topoi)

f /Topos of advantage/disadvantage and usefulness/uselessnessTopos of definition and name interpretationTopos of definition and name interpretationTopos of danger and threatTopos of finance/economyTopos of finance/economyTopos of realityTopos of numberspTopos of lawTopos of authorityTopos of historyTopos of culture


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Some FallaciesSome FallaciesThe argumentum ad hominem is a verbal attack on the antagonist's personality andThe argumentum ad hominem is a verbal attack on the antagonist s personality and

character instead of trying to refute the antagonist's arguments. The argumentum ad misericordiam consists of unjustifiably appealing for compassion and

empathy in cases where a specific situation of serious difficulties intended to evoke compassion and to win an antagonist over to one's side is faked or pretended. p g p

The argumentum ad populum encompasses populist appeals to “masses” of people, to “mobs” or “snobs”.

The argumentum ad ignorantiam is an appeal to ignorance. This means that a standpoint, argument or thesis is to be regarded as true if it has not been refuted, I.E., if it has not been proven not to be the case.

The argumentum ad verecundiam is the misplaced appeal to deep respect and reverence (Latin verecundia) for authorities.

The “post hoc, ergo propter hoc”-fallacy (i.e. A before B, therefore B because of A) relies i i t ll h l i l l ti hi ith ll ti lon mixing up a temporally chronological relationship with a causally consequential one.

The straw man fallacy amounts to “twisting somebody’s words”, I.E., to presenting a distorted picture of the antagonist's standpoint in order to be able to refute the standpoint or argument more easily and to make it less tenable.


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An example from an official speechAn example from an official speech• This is the final portion of a speech delivered by Italian PM Silvio

Berlusconi to the US Congress on 1st March 2006:Berlusconi to the US Congress on 1 March 2006:

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, distinguished Members of Congress, the bonds between Americans and Italians are strong and enduring Ithe bonds between Americans and Italians are strong and enduring. I am convinced that they will continue to strengthen and that the United States will always find in Italy a partner nation with which it can share the same vision of the world.Allow me to conclude by sharing with you a brief story. It is the story of a young man, one who had just graduated from high school. His father took him to a cemetery that was the final resting place for brave young soldiers young people who had crossed an ocean to restore dignitysoldiers, young people who had crossed an ocean to restore dignity and liberty to an oppressed people. In showing him those crosses, that father made his son vow never to forget the ultimate sacrifice those young American soldiers had made for his freedom. That father y gmade his son vow eternal gratitude to that country.That father was my father, and that young man was me.I have never forgotten that sacrifice and that vow, and I never will.gThank you.


Narrative and the t ti f hrepresentation of speech

• Much of our ‘action’ in our lives isMuch of our action in our lives is communicative, verbal action.M h f h t h i t i i t (• Much of what happens in stories is not (or not just) what people/characters do, but what they say.

• In a corpus based study for example• In a corpus-based study, for example, Semino and Short (2004) found that, in

t th t ti f hnews reports, the representation of speech accounts for almost half of all words (approximately 47 per cent of the data). 32Ruth Wodak, AIM Workshop,

London 190309

Some of the functions of narrativesSome of the functions of narratives• Projection of particular representations of j p p

‘reality’• Projection of personal identity• Strengthening of intimacy and group identity• Strengthening of feelings of national identity• Persuasion• Explanation• Moral teaching• Psychological healing• Projection of alternative worlds• Entertainment• etc.


Main points• Narrative is generally regarded as a crucial phenomenon in

communication, and as central to what it means to be human.

• Narrative, as a mode of discourse, can be seen as a ‘pre-genre’; however some genres are partly defined by beinggenre ; however, some genres are partly defined by being ‘narrative’ in nature.

• Narratives may vary along a range of dimensions (oral vs. y y g g (written, mode of narration, temporal sequencing, etc.).

• Narratives can be analysed in terms of their main structural h t i ticharacteristics.

• Narratives can have a wide range of functions in communicationcommunication.

• Narratives are often concerned with things that are saidrather than things that are done.


Further approaches to the study of narrative

• Narrative and children’s linguistic development (e.g. Hudson and Shapiro p ( g p1991)

• Narrative and gender (e g Coates 2003)• Narrative and gender (e.g. Coates 2003) • Narrative and mental representations (e.g.

Rumelhart 1975, Schank and Abelson 1977)1977)

• Narrative and medicine (Charon 2006)


Narrative and the construction of ‘reality’ in news reports

• Two news reports on the same topic fromTwo news reports on the same topic from different newspapers: see separate handouthandout.


A corpus-based study of speechA corpus based study of speech presentation in narrative

• Semino and Short analysed speech presentation (as well as writing and thought presentation) in a corpus of fictional and non fictional narrativescorpus of fictional and non-fictional narratives, including prose fiction, newspaper news reports and (auto)biography.( ) g p y

• We proposed a revised model for the analysis of speech presentation (see separate handout)

• In this model, the categories are ordered in terms of decreasing (apparent) interference from the narrator/reporter and of increasingthe narrator/reporter, and of increasing vividness, dramatisation and (apparent) faithfulness to the original utterance.g


Speech presentation in the two news reports

• According to Semino and Short’s method of analysis, speech presentation accounts for 53 per cent of the

d i th S t d f 80 t f th dwords in the Sun report and for 80 per cent of the words in the Guardian report.

• The Guardian article includes a roughly equal number of• The Guardian article includes a roughly equal number of voices from the British and Russian sides of the dispute.

• The Sun article predominantly focuses on the voices of p yrepresentatives of the British side in the dispute. The only exceptions are two references to Russia’s refusal to comply with the extradition request and the directcomply with the extradition request, and the direct speech representation of Mr Lugovoy’s threat in the final paragraph.


• Semino and Short (2004) found that, in ( )their press data, the most frequently used categories were NRSA, IS, and DS.categories were NRSA, IS, and DS.

• The Guardian article includes 29 instances f h t ti f th tof speech representation; of these, ten are

NRSA, nine IS, and six DS. • The Sun article includes 16 instances of

speech representation; of these five arespeech representation; of these, five are NRSA, four IS, and six DS.

• How is speech presentation used in the Sun headline?


• In both articles, DS is primarily reserved for the voices of the representatives of the British side, p ,and particularly Prime Minister Brown and Foreign Secretary David Milliband. Apart from one case in each article the Russian side isone case in each article, the Russian side is represented via the nondirect forms of speech representation. p

• In a number of cases, however, short stretches of direct quotation are included within instances

f di t f f h t ti iof nondirect forms of speech presentation in order to foreground the most important parts of the utterances as in the following instance of ISthe utterances, as in the following instance of IS from the Guardian article: – with a spokesman warning it would have “the most

i ” f l ti b t th tserious consequences” for relations between the two countries.

• Semino and Short refer to this phenomenon asSemino and Short refer to this phenomenon as ‘embedded quotations’. 40Ruth Wodak, AIM Workshop,

London 190309

• In both articles, the ‘story’ consists primarily of , y p yverbal action, and speech presentation is therefore the main textual device for the telling of the story.

• Both articles rely significantly on material that is attributed to other voices and both privilege the perspective of the British side in the dispute.

S• This tendency is much more marked in the Sun, where:

th di t i t d li d ff i– the dispute is a represented as a personalised affair involving primarily Brown and Putin, and

– speech activity is presented metaphorically in terms– speech activity is presented metaphorically in terms of physical violence and aggression via the use of expressions such as ‘blasts’ and ‘stood up to’.


References

• Charon, R. (2006) Narrative Medicine: Honoring the Stories of Illness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Coates J (2003) Men Talk: Stories in the Making of Masculinities Oxford:• Coates, J. (2003) Men Talk: Stories in the Making of Masculinities. Oxford: Blackwell.

• Hudson, J. and Shapiro, L. R. (1991) From knowing to telling: The development of children’s scripts, stories and personal narrative. In p p pMcCabe, A and Peterson, C. (eds) Developing Narrative Structure. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 89-136.

• Johnstone, B. (2001) Discourse Analysis and Narrative. In Schiffrin, D., Tannen D and Hamilton H E (eds) Handbook of Discourse AnalysisTannen D. and Hamilton, H. E. (eds) Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Blackwell, 635-49.

• Labov, W. (1972) Language in the Inner City: Studies in the Black English Vernacular. Oxford: Blackwell.

(19 ) f G• Rumelhart, D.E. (1975) Notes on a schema for stories. In Bobrow D.G. and Collins A. (eds.), Representation and Understanding, New York: Academic Press, 211-36.

• Semino, E. and Short, M. (2004) Corpus Stylistics: Speech, Writing andSemino, E. and Short, M. (2004) Corpus Stylistics: Speech, Writing and Thought Presentation in a Corpus of English Writing. London: Routledge.

• Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.W d k R (2009) Th Di f P liti i A ti B i t k• Wodak, R. (2009) The Discourse of Politics in Action. Basingstoke: Palgrave 42Ruth Wodak, AIM Workshop,

London 190309

Education

Aim Workshop Wodak Narratives190309