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Narrative Paradigm
Walter Fisher

GROUP AND PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: PUBLIC RHETORIC

Chapter 24
 Dramatism
Media and Culture 
Chapter 24
 Dramatism
Media and Culture 

Chapter Outline 9th Edition

  1. Introduction.
    1. For Walter Fisher, storytelling epitomizes human nature.
    2. All forms of human communication that appeal to our reason are stories.
    3. Offering good reasons has more to do with telling a compelling story than it does with piling up evidence or constructing a tight argument.
    4. Fisher’s narrative paradigm emphasizes that no communication is purely descriptive or didactic.
  2. Narration and paradigm: defining the terms.
    1. Fisher defines narration as symbolic actions—words and/or deeds—that have sequence and meaning for those who live, create, and interpret them.
    2. Fisher’s definition is broad.
      1. Narration is rooted in time and space.
      2. It covers every aspect of life with regard to character, motive, and action.
      3. It refers to verbal and nonverbal messages.
      4. Even abstract communication is included.
    3. A paradigm is a conceptual framework.
    4. Fisher’s narrative paradigm is offered as the foundation on which a complete rhetoric needs to be built.
  3. Paradigm shift: from a rational-world paradigm to a narrative one.
    1. The mind-set of the reigning technical experts is the 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.
    2. The narrative paradigm is built on parallel, yet contrasting, premises.
      1. People are essentially storytellers.
      2. We make decisions on the basis of good reason, 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.
    3. Unlike the rational-world paradigm, the narrative paradigm privileges values, aesthetic criteria, and commonsense interpretation.
    4. We judge stories based on narrative rationality.
  4. Narrative rationality: coherence and fidelity.
    1. Fisher believes that everyone applies the same standards of narrative rationality to stories.
    2. The twin tests of a story are narrative coherence and narrative fidelity.
    3. Narrative coherence:  does the story hang together?
      1. How probable is the story to the hearer?
      2. Narrative consistency parallels lines of argument in the rational-world paradigm. 
      3. The test of reason, however, is only one factor affecting narrative coherence.
      4. Coherence can be assessed by comparing a story to others with a similar theme. 
      5. The ultimate test of narrative coherence is whether or not we can count on the characters to act in a reliable manner.
    4. Narrative fidelity: does the story ring true and humane?
      1. Does the story square with the hearer’s experiences?
      2. A story has fidelity when it provides good reasons to guide our future actions.
      3. Values set the narrative paradigm’s logic of good reasons apart from the rational-world paradigm’s logic of reasons.
      4. The logic of good reasons centers on five value-related issues. 
        1. The values embedded in the message.
        2. The relevance of those values to decisions made.
        3. The consequence of adhering to those values.
        4. The overlap with the worldview of the audience.
        5. Conformity with what audience members believe is an ideal basis of conduct.
      5. People tend to prefer accounts that fit with what they view as truthful and humane.
      6. There is an ideal audience that identifies the humane values that a good story embodies.
      7. These stories include the timeless values of truth, the good, beauty, health, wisdom, courage, temperance, justice, harmony, order, communion, friendship, and oneness with the Cosmos.
      8. Communities not based on humane virtues are possible, but Fisher believes these less idealistic value systems lack true coherence.
      9. Judging a story to have fidelity means we believe shared values can influence belief and action.
      10. Almost all communication is narrative, and we evaluate it on that basis.
  5. Critique: does Fisher’s story have coherence and fidelity?
    1. Fisher’s narrative paradigm offers a fresh reworking to Aristotelian analysis.
    2. Fisher’s principles of narrative coherence and fidelity can be used to analyze various types of communication, which provides strong evidence of their validity.
    3. Critics charge that Fisher is overly optimistic.
    4. Critics charge that the logic of good reason denies the chance to be swayed by something unfamiliar or radically different, and that Fisher’s understanding of probability and fidelity are too tightly linked with normative concepts of rationality.

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Archived chapters (PDF)
from previous editions
are available in
Resources by Type.
See list

New to Theory
Resources?
Find out more in this short
video overview (3:01).


Narrative Paradigm
Walter Fisher

GROUP AND PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: PUBLIC RHETORIC

Chapter 24
 Dramatism
Media and Culture 
Chapter 24
 Dramatism
Media and Culture 

Chapter Outline 9th Edition

  1. Introduction.
    1. For Walter Fisher, storytelling epitomizes human nature.
    2. All forms of human communication that appeal to our reason are stories.
    3. Offering good reasons has more to do with telling a compelling story than it does with piling up evidence or constructing a tight argument.
    4. Fisher’s narrative paradigm emphasizes that no communication is purely descriptive or didactic.
  2. Narration and paradigm: defining the terms.
    1. Fisher defines narration as symbolic actions—words and/or deeds—that have sequence and meaning for those who live, create, and interpret them.
    2. Fisher’s definition is broad.
      1. Narration is rooted in time and space.
      2. It covers every aspect of life with regard to character, motive, and action.
      3. It refers to verbal and nonverbal messages.
      4. Even abstract communication is included.
    3. A paradigm is a conceptual framework.
    4. Fisher’s narrative paradigm is offered as the foundation on which a complete rhetoric needs to be built.
  3. Paradigm shift: from a rational-world paradigm to a narrative one.
    1. The mind-set of the reigning technical experts is the 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.
    2. The narrative paradigm is built on parallel, yet contrasting, premises.
      1. People are essentially storytellers.
      2. We make decisions on the basis of good reason, 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.
    3. Unlike the rational-world paradigm, the narrative paradigm privileges values, aesthetic criteria, and commonsense interpretation.
    4. We judge stories based on narrative rationality.
  4. Narrative rationality: coherence and fidelity.
    1. Fisher believes that everyone applies the same standards of narrative rationality to stories.
    2. The twin tests of a story are narrative coherence and narrative fidelity.
    3. Narrative coherence:  does the story hang together?
      1. How probable is the story to the hearer?
      2. Narrative consistency parallels lines of argument in the rational-world paradigm. 
      3. The test of reason, however, is only one factor affecting narrative coherence.
      4. Coherence can be assessed by comparing a story to others with a similar theme. 
      5. The ultimate test of narrative coherence is whether or not we can count on the characters to act in a reliable manner.
    4. Narrative fidelity: does the story ring true and humane?
      1. Does the story square with the hearer’s experiences?
      2. A story has fidelity when it provides good reasons to guide our future actions.
      3. Values set the narrative paradigm’s logic of good reasons apart from the rational-world paradigm’s logic of reasons.
      4. The logic of good reasons centers on five value-related issues. 
        1. The values embedded in the message.
        2. The relevance of those values to decisions made.
        3. The consequence of adhering to those values.
        4. The overlap with the worldview of the audience.
        5. Conformity with what audience members believe is an ideal basis of conduct.
      5. People tend to prefer accounts that fit with what they view as truthful and humane.
      6. There is an ideal audience that identifies the humane values that a good story embodies.
      7. These stories include the timeless values of truth, the good, beauty, health, wisdom, courage, temperance, justice, harmony, order, communion, friendship, and oneness with the Cosmos.
      8. Communities not based on humane virtues are possible, but Fisher believes these less idealistic value systems lack true coherence.
      9. Judging a story to have fidelity means we believe shared values can influence belief and action.
      10. Almost all communication is narrative, and we evaluate it on that basis.
  5. Critique: does Fisher’s story have coherence and fidelity?
    1. Fisher’s narrative paradigm offers a fresh reworking to Aristotelian analysis.
    2. Fisher’s principles of narrative coherence and fidelity can be used to analyze various types of communication, which provides strong evidence of their validity.
    3. Critics charge that Fisher is overly optimistic.
    4. Critics charge that the logic of good reason denies the chance to be swayed by something unfamiliar or radically different, and that Fisher’s understanding of probability and fidelity are too tightly linked with normative concepts of rationality.

 
 
 
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