Narrative Paradigm

Of Walter Fisher

What is the essence of human nature?

Thibaut & Kelly: Humans are rational creaturesBerger: People are basically curiousMead: Our ability to use symbols is what makes us uniquely humanFisher: Doesn’t argue any of these, but thinks that human communication reveals something more basic than rationality, curiosity or even symbol using capacity

Walter Fisher, professor emeritus at the

University of Southern California’sAnnenberg School of

CommunicationFisher sees us as narrative beings and that storytelling epitomizes our human nature.

He tells us that all forms of human communication are narrative, meaning that we communicate in order to tell stories, or give report of an event or events.

(With the exception of Phatic Communication, such as jokes, “Hi, How are you?” greetings and other forms of Phatic communication.)

Forrest Gump: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdsMqRaz2WY

Good Reasons

In 1978, Fisher introduced the concept of good reasons, which led to his proposal of the narrative paradigm in 1984.

He proposed that offering good reasons has more to do with telling a compelling story than it does with piling up evidence or constructing a tight argument.

Aristotle: 2000 years of logical rhetoric

For 2000 years rhetoric had been analyzed in terms of reason, pathos, logos and how well people were making their argument.

Rhetoric was all about persuasion and how to convince others.

Until Fisher created a paradigm shift from a rational-world paradigm to a narrative one.

Prevailing Rational-World Paradigm 1. People are essentially rational.2. We make decisions on the basis of

arguments.3. The type of speaking situation (legal,

scientific, legislative) determines the course of our argument.

4. Rationality is determined by how much we know and how well we argue.

5. The world is a set of logical puzzles that we can solve through rational analysis.

Major Conceptual Shift to Narrative Paradigm

1. People are essentially storytellers.2. We make decisions on the basis of good

reasons, which vary depending on the communication situation, media, and genre (philosophical, technical, rhetorical, or artistic).

3. History, biography, culture and character determine what we consider good reasons.

4. Narrative rationality is determined by the coherence and fidelity of our stories.

5. The world is a set of stories from which we choose, and thus constantly re-create, our lives.

Narrative Rationality: Coherence & Fidelity

According to Fisher, not all stories are good.

Stories need to meet the twin tests of narrative coherence and narrative fidelity.

Together they are measures of a story’s truthfulness and humanity.

Narrative Coherence

How probable does the story sound to the listener?

Does the narrative hang together?

Do the people and events it portrays seem to be of one piece?

Do the characters act consistently or are there obvious contradictions?

Narrative FidelityThe quality of a story that causes the words to strike a responsive chord in the life of the listener.

When the listener hears it, the story rings true with the listener’s experiences and stories they may tell about themselves.

The story provides good reasons to guide our future actions.

When we buy into a story, we buy into the type of character we should be.

Examples of stereotypical stories we love (underdog movies, people overcoming great odds to achieve greatness)

Susan Boyle: http://youtu.be/RxPZh4AnWyk

The Logic of Good ReasonsFisher says we are concerned with:

1. The values embedded in the message2. The relevance of those values to decisions

made3. The consequence of adhering to those values4. The overlap with the worldview of the

audience5. Conformity with what the audience members

believe is “an ideal basis for conduct”

Ideal AudienceFisher suggests that there is an ideal audience or permanent public that identifies the humane values that a good story embodies:

It appears that there is a permanent public, an actual community existing over time, that believes in the values of truth, the good, beauty, health, wisdom, courage, temperance, justice, harmony, order, communion, friendship, and oneness with the Cosmos– as variously as those values may be defined or practiced in “real” life.

PersuasionFisher believes that we are not as logic driven as many communications theories argue.He says that we are more persuaded by a good story than a good argument, that a good story is a powerful means of persuasion.According to Fisher, the world is a set of stories and when a person is speaking there is a story involved. He determined that we choose from those stories and we construct our own life by the decisions we make.

Does Fisher’s Story Have Coherence & Fidelity?

Fisher’s approach is strongly democratic.

When communication is viewed as narrative, people usually don’t need specialized training or expertise to figure out if a story holds together or offers good reasons for believing it to be true.

People with ordinary common sense are competent rhetorical critics.

Overly Optimistic?

Many critics charge that Fisher is overly optimistic when, similar to Aristotle, Fisher argues that people have a natural tendency to prefer the true and the just.

Rhetorical Critic Barbara Warnick at the University of Washington calls attention to the great communicative power of evil or wrongheaded stories such as Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Effective versus GoodHitler achieved one of history’s most notorious acts of rhetoric, yet in its time and place it achieved both coherence and fidelity.

Fisher thinks Warnick is confusing Hitler’s effective discourse with the good discourse that people tend to prefer.

But he grants that evil can overwhelm that tendency and thinks that’s all the more reason to identify and promote the humane values described by the narrative paradigm.

Conclusion

Fisher proposed the Narrative Paradigm, the idea that:1. Man is a storytelling animal2. That human communication is largely a

storytelling process3. And that we should test the narrative

rationality of stories for credibility and fidelity.

Homework:1. Paradigm Shift:A minor change in the way most people see the world and its meanings. True or False?2. Can this be applied in our daily lives? Yes or No?3. If yes, how?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlRK1vqcuvg

Questions or thoughts?

Narrative ParadigmOf Walter Fisher

Everyone has a story.

Thank you for listening to mine!