Subconsciously and unconsciously, humans are constantly sifting through and evaluating narratives that evade and infiltrate their daily lives. Narratives are a core component in creating interpersonal communication and maintaining common interests. Herman’s texts frequently mention the word “ community”; even in different contexts, the principal role of a community is to provide the individual with a connection to a whole. A community is place where narratives are circulated, validated, justified as unappealing, and shared. A community, like a narrative is fluid, and can be many things such as a one on one interaction, a school or work community or the global community. To futher elaborate on that point, Herman and Vervaeck believe that “ For (narrative) interest to arise, the circulation on offer must to some extent coincide with the reader’s disposition as it derives from his or her cultural embeddedness.”[1] What may be considered an appealing narrative to one community, may be disvalued by another.
How are appealing and disappealing narratives distinguished from one another? News value may be a good indicator. Galtung/Ruge/ Ostgaard provide aspects of what constitutes new value: frequency, threshold, relevance, cultural proximity, and demand to name a few.[2] It is basic human nature to relate to narratives which evoke an emotion of personal connection. “the more the event can be seen in personal terms, as due to the action of specific individuals, the more probable that it will become a news item.”[3] That being said, it is impossible for one single person to evaluate what is appealing and disappealing in the narrative context. A narrative that author Robyn R. Warhol would consider “antinarratable” or something that “ should not be told due to social convention or taboo”[4] may be appealing to a different audience in a different part of the world. What one may see as a worthy story, one may discard as an uninteresting side note.
Narratives must not only be judged by their content, but the relation they have to culture, news value, and to the audience most importantly. If all narratives had equal appeal to the entire global population, news would not be circulated in the same manor it is today, and an abundance of information would be lost in the sphere of what would be considered disappealing.
[1] Herman, Luc/ Vervaeck, Bart. Narrative Interest as Cultural Negotiation. Vol. 17. The Ohio State Universtiy, 2009. Print. p. 112
[2] Galtung, Johan/Ruge, Mari Holmboe: The Structure of Foreign News. The Presentation of the Congo, Cuba, and Cyprus Crises in Four Norwegian Newspapers. Journal of Peace Research, vol. 2 (1965)
[3] Galtung, Johan/Ruge, Mari Holmboe: The Structure of Foreign News. The Presentation of the Congo, Cuba, and Cyprus Crises in Four Norwegian Newspapers. Journal of Peace Research, vol. 2 (1965) p. 68
[4] Robyn R. Warhol: Neonarratative; or, How to Renter the Unnarratble in Realist Fiction and Contemporary Film. In: Phelan, James/Rabinowitz: Peter J.: A Companion to Narrative Theory. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005, pp. 220-231
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