Narrative Paradigm - Narrative Rationality

Narrative Rationality

According to Fisher, the narrative paradigm is all-encompassing. Therefore all communication can be looked at through a narrative lens, even though it may not meet the traditional literary requirements of a narrative. Individuals are able to distinguish what makes a story legitimate by using what Fisher refers to as narrative rationality. Rationality consists of two factors: coherence and fidelity. Coherence can be best defined as the degree to which a story makes sense structurally. Is the story consistent, with sufficient detail, reliable characters, and free of any major surprises? The ability to judge coherence is learned, and improves with experience. Narrative fidelity is concerned with whether or not the story is true. Fisher establishes five criteria that affect a story’s narrative fidelity (Fisher, 1987):

• questions of fact that examine the values embedded in the story, either explicitly or implicitly
• questions of relevance that consider the connection between the story that is told and the values being espoused
• questions of consequences that consider the possible outcomes that would accrue to people adhering to the espoused values
• questions of consistency between the values of the narrative and the held values of the audience
• questions of transcendence that consider the extent to which the story’s values represent the highest values possible in human experience