When do narratives appeal or disappeal?

Herman and Vervaeck state that "narrative texts can induce narrative interest thanks to the network in which they circulate and in which the reader takes part."[1] It is this very interest which makes narratives appealing. Pinpointing the narrative appeal on a specific aspect is impractical. Instead, it is possible to group the core stemming interests into categories.

In The Structure of Foreign News, Galtung and Ruge come to a satisfactory set of ideas that influence news value.[2] These factors include: "frequency, threshold, absolute intensity, intensity increase, unambiguity, meaningfulness, cultural proximity, relevance, consonance, predictability, demand, unexpectedness, unpredictability, scarcity, continuity, composition" and references to elite nations and people. News are a form of narrative. Therefore, the categories that Galtung and Ruge describe also apply to narratives and their appeal to the reader.

In The Disnarrated, Gerald Prince defines disnarrated as being the "unrealized possibility."[3] He goes on further to state that disnarrated "frequently consists of hopes, desires, imaginings and ponderings, unreasonable expectations and incorrect beliefs." Being a subcategory of narratives, the disnarrated takes its place in fictional works or worlds. By helping the overall narrative, the disnarrated is able to obtain the appeal of the audience and therefore makes the overall narrative appealing.

Gerald Prince also states that narratives become unnarratable when they are "below the so-called threshold of narratability."[4] He also states that "one narrator's unnarratable can very well be another's narratable [..]."[5] If someone decides to write a narrative on something that goes "below the accepted minimum level of functional relevance," they cross the threshold that Prince talks about. Once the threshold is crossed and the narrative lacks the functional relevance, it becomes disappealing. Using the same example that Prince uses of tying shoelaces, if the author does not bring any new exquisite or extraordinary ideas to the process, the narrative would cross the "threshold of narratability." Therefore, even though the author tried to narrate a task, it would not be appealing.

The effectiveness and in essence, the appeal of a narrative scales with the readers interest. This interest is gauged by many categories that accumulate to express an overall effectiveness of the appeal of a narrative to a person. On one extreme there are narratives that would perfectly fit into the above mentioned categories and spark the reader's interest. Meanwhile, there are other narratives which do not contain valuable input for any of the categories. Such narratives would be considered disappealing.

[1]Herman, L., Vervaeck, B. "Narrative Interest as Cultural Negotiation." NARRATIVE. Volume 17 (2009), Page 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. Volume 2 (1965), Pages 70-71
[3]Prince, Gerald. "The Disnarrated." STYLE. Volume 21 (1988), Page 3.
[4]Prince, Gerald. "The Disnarrated." STYLE. Volume 21 (1988), Page 1.
[5]Prince, Gerald. "The Disnarrated." STYLE. Volume 21 (1988), Page 2.