A full understanding of narrative needs to appreciate their presence at multiple interrelated levels, with complex interrelationships and dynamics, from the surface level of everyday discussion, down to core aspects of our identity and values:
Narrative and why it matters
What has more power than what doesn’t need to be said?
When an idea is assumed to be true, it is no longer up for debate. It forms the boundaries of acceptable discourse — what is seen as relevant and possible. All too often, this is one of the biggest barriers to improving the world: unwritten rules that limit our imagination and trap us in binary oppositions and regressive definitions.
In any social change effort, it’s crucial to understand the landscape of ‘narrative,' or the concepts and conventional understandings where thinking and action takes place. By analysing and understanding narratives, we can find ways past barriers, combating and ultimately replacing regressive belief systems.
Levels of Narrative
Stories & Opinion: the surface level of public discourse, reflected in everyday news, and captured through methods like polling and focus groups
Collective Agendas: grouped perspectives and interpretations of the world; most discussion and analysis of ‘narrative’ focuses on this level
Operating Assumptions: conventional definitions and understandings often unspoken, determining what is possible, relevant, and worthy of attention
Mental Models: deeper societal concepts and norms, mostly unconscious, around fundamental ways that the world works
Identities, Values & Worldviews: base cultural and psychological frameworks that inform and draw from our collective culture
Making the distinction between these different levels gives a more fine grained sense of how narratives operate at and between different levels, helping avoid the confusion and conflation that can commonly plague work described as ‘narrative’, and giving a clearer sense of what interventions make sense where in each case.
What understanding Narrative allows
Understanding narrative and its role within public discourse allows for more sophisticated, long-term and resilient strategies. It enables the identification of specific practical opportunities and intervention points, and the production of particular tools, materials and approaches. It allows organisations to:
Understand opposing influence & communication efforts, and create constructive counter-narratives;
Ensure actions and communications do not unintentionally reinforce unhelpful or unjust frames;
Identify effective allies to engage in building power for change.
All of these contribute towards the longer term goal of replacing dominant regressive narratives, and ultimately creating a more just and equal future.
