A narrative is a story agreed upon by a group of people. This public story explains the way the world works and the meaning of human life, including what is good for humans to be and do. A narrative provides guidelines for human action.
(Arnett, Fritz, & Bell, 2009, p. 37)
I feel as though there isn’t one religious, political, or philosophical narrative that I can relate myself to with 100% certainty. My religious life has been a patchwork of several Christian denominations—American Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Episcopalian. My parents, now divorced, have differing political ideologies—my father is more conservative, and my mother is liberal. While all of these narratives have certainly influenced me, it’s difficult to pinpoint whether or not I identify with one or all of them at this point in my life. I almost feel like an average of every aforementioned narrative.
As both a student and educator, I feel as though I’ve adapted to learning and living with a sense of skepticism.
I feel as though being a skeptic has some sort of negative connotation, and I can see why. In some cases, people become so overly skeptical that they refuse to even entertain new ideas. These skeptics might need boatloads of hard evidence to convince them of anything. I promise you—that’s not how I practice skepticism!
I’m definitely a true believer of certain things, and I don’t question every accepted opinion I stumble upon. As such, I feel like I use my sense of skepticism to advocate for open-mindedness and critical thinking. If we can’t question the world we live in, I think our lives would be pretty boring.
I am also reminded of Kenneth Burke and his theory of “equipment for living.” Burke theorized that “a speech, poem, or any piece of discourse is ‘a strategy for encompassing a situation,’ a way of sizing up and responding to a situation.” Other rhetorical scholars expanded his theory to include media such as film and music (Littlejohn & Foss, 2011, p. 358).
These public narratives—whether it’s a book, movie, or song—can have significant influence over a person’s daily life and actions. I’d like to think that some of those narratives guide my life and actions, too. I wish I could compile my favorite books, movies, and songs that have this “equipment for living,” but there’s just so many to consider! The one thing that does come to mind is my recent study of Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me By Your Name.
So here I am, several paragraphs into this blog post, and I feel like I have yet to identify a solid narrative framework that informs and guides my sense of the good. Like I said earlier, I almost feel like this mathematical average of everyone I’ve ever interacted with. In a way, I feel like my guiding narrative is my own. It’s gotten me this far, and it will get me to where I’m going.
References:
- Arnett, R. C., Fritz, J. M., & Bell, L. M. (2009). Communication ethics literacy: Dialogue and difference. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications.
- Littlejohn, S. W., & Foss, K. A. (2011). Theories of human communication (10th ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.
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