A narrative is a human attempt to tell a story, either one based on a true occurrence, or an imagined one. This telling process requires two parties, which are best described by Prince as the “NARRATORS” (those who tell the story), and the “NARRATEES” (those to whom the story is told). [1] A narrative may be presented in any medium in which communication is possible, such as print, spoken words, images, etc.
Humans are the only species on Earth to tell stories, making narratives a “distinct human trait”. [2] But why is this so? Why are narratives so important? Why do people pay to see movies, or spend their free time watching the news?
It is because, as Abbott states, “narrative is the principal way in which our species organizes its understanding of time.”[3] But this statement does not go far enough- narrative is the way in which humans derive meaning. When someone hears a story, or recalls a story from his/her own past, he/she begins to contemplate the significance of that narrative, and the resulting contemplation contributes to that person’s personality. In other words, one’s interpretation of a narrative builds and reflects the character of him/herself.
And not only do narratives make people who they are- people create narratives everyday, not only through the narratives they imagine, but the narratives created by an individual’s actions. With this perspective, the connection and cyclical nature of narratives can be seen- the self makes the narrative, and the narrative makes the self.
[1] Prince, Gerald: Dictionary of Narratology. Revised Edition. Lincoln, London: University of Nebraska press 2003, p. 58.
[2] Abbott, H. Porter. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. Second Edition. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2008, p1.
[3] Abbott, H. Porter. The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. Second Edition. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2008, p.3.
Humans definitely derive meaning through narrative. That is the whole basis of a montage in cinema. A montage has been come to be known as a series of shots showing the development of a character or action over time, with the cheesiest music playing in the background as possible. However, it is really a collision between two separate images to create a new meaning. In Eisenstein's silent film Strike, he interrupts a battle scene between a union and hired police with a cow being slaughtered. What comes to mind is that the union members are being slaughtered like animals, systematically and gruesomely. Popular cinema thrives off of the ability of the human brain to take in separate images and create meaning. This is what narrative is all about.
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