The Power of Narrative

A narrative is a story.  Synonyms include such words as “account,” “tale,” and even “lie.”  Dictionary definitions include the following: “a story or account of events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious”; “a story that connects and explains a carefully selected set of supposedly true events, experiences, or the like, intended to support a particular viewpoint or thesis.”

Just to be clear, narrative may or may not be factual.

Narrative is often used as a form of persuasion.  One creates a compelling story that encourages its audience to react in a particular way.  The story may or may not be based in fact.  Narratives can be entertaining, they can be useful, and they can be a dangerous form of propaganda.

We currently see narrative functioning at its most dangerous every day on the news; that is, if we can see beyond the story created we will see the narrative for what it is.  For, what passes for “news” today is actually a mixture of fact, innuendo, and fiction composed to create a view of the world that fits into an agenda; it is an attempt to form our views about leaders and policies in a way that fit a purpose that encourages the audience to act in a certain way towards those leaders and policies.  This is not news, it is propaganda.  That it is passed off and often also accepted as a rendition of fact rather than a carefully crafted narrative is dangerous indeed.  For if people act and react based on a false rendition of reality the result is often unfair or unjust, likely destructive, and surely unproductive.

There is a very sinister use of narrative by many on the Left who, in conjunction with members of the media, set forth a narrative about the current administration that is completely negative.  They are creating their own story – the story they want to be true – regardless of its factual support or lack thereof.  The goal of this narrative is to urge anyone who hears it to join their efforts to bring down this administration.  Their narrative is powerful, but, often, not factual. 

Yet, facts do matter.  There must be a realistic and factual appraisal of any existing situation before people can work to improve it.  Competing narratives prevent meaningful dialog and preclude a joint focus on what is.  Without facts there can be no rational dialog; rather, dialog will be guided by emotions generated by the narrative being told.   Rather than informed, intellectual debates about issues, those issues will be decided by whomever is best able to manipulate others by creating the more persuasive narrative, regardless of its truth.

There is a difference between interpreting actual and existing facts and simply creating your own.  Facts are always open to interpretation and discussion.  Interpretations of facts – their significance, whether they are good or bad, their cause and their effect - may change.  But the facts themselves do not change; they are not fluid.  Narratives, on the other hand, have a fluidity that can be useful to their creators; since they need not be factual, the story can change at will in order to create the effect desired by the narrative’s creator.  When such narratives are taken as fact then reality itself becomes fluid and we are all left to the mercy of the one who can create the best narrative.  This is a very dangerous place to be since the motives underlying the creation of any particular narrative may be less than kind, and may be sinister indeed.

And, when narratives succeed, their creators, feeling a heady and dangerous sense of power, are likely to continue to use that tactic to their benefit again in the future.  Suppose the anti-Trump narrative succeeds in removing Trump from office.  What is to prevent a new narrative being constructed to remove his successor, then his successor and so on?  The dangerous result is nothing less than a loss of our democracy.

Yet, narratives are only as powerful as their audience allows them to be. Today, when narratives with little or no basis in fact are competing for control of our country, we must all become extra vigilant.  We must demand facts and expose narratives.  If we continue to allow the blurring of the lines between fact, fiction, and opinion we will be participating in creating a culture that is intellectually bankrupt and continually at war with its own reality.  If we instead choose to take narratives for the stories they are, if we demand facts and distinguish those facts from opinion and fiction, we can create a culture where we will be able to have intellectual, rational, and productive discussions about existing facts and their meaning because we will all be living in and a part of the same reality.