Searching for a definition of a narrative

A narrative is a story of an event shared by two or more persons (think: sender and receiver), that can be presented in cyberspace, printed media, spoken tales and stories, photos, musical works, printed literature, film, television, radio, and any other form of communication. Without a receiver of the story, there is no narrative; since no one is receiving the information. A narrative must also be universally understood by the receivers, and it must convey something important or meaningful in order to have an effect on the receiver/reader.

I am of the opinion that H. Porter Abbott's definition of a narrative is much more relevant than the definition given by David Herman. A narrative, according to Abbott, is "the representation of events, consisting of a story and narrative discourse", and his definition can be applied to a variety of media as well as everyday life. Herman's definition is far more restricted, and must include a conflict and an outcome to the conflict.

I favor Abbott's definition because it does not restrict or limit any forms of media or communication, and this is especially important since the definition can be applied to any time period, and it can grow with changes and advances in technology and culture. Abbott goes further to define story as "an event or sequence of events", and narrative discourse as "those events as represented". By keeping his definition of narrative discourse rather vague, Abbott allows his readers to apply the definition to any form of communication. For example, given today's modern advances in technology, a "story" can be relayed from one person to another through a text message, an email, a Facebook status, a blog, and so on. The method of technology through which the story is transmitted (i.e., the text message, the Facebook status, etc) is the narrative discourse in this situation.

Works Cited:

Abbott, H. Porter. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print.

Herman, David. The Cambridge Companion to Narrative. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print.