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This page was translated from the German original, partly by machine. Some passages may read awkwardly or contain inaccuracies. When in doubt, please read the original.

The Language Game of Narrating

Real-life examples​

Narrating pervades our everyday life in countless forms: the grandmother reading fairy tales to her grandchildren; the friend recounting his holiday; the politician sketching a "story" about the future of the country; the patient describing his history of symptoms to the doctor; the news presenter reporting on events; the novel that carries us off into other worlds. Even our identity we construct narratively: "I am someone who..."

What it aims at​

The language game of narrating aims primarily at bringing experiences and events into a temporal and causal structure and thereby giving them meaning. Unlike mere asserting, it is less about isolated facts than about embedding them in a larger context. Narrating creates coherence, connects the unconnected and makes abstract concepts tangible through concrete scenarios. It conveys not only information but also meaning, emotion and values.

Success criteria​

A narrative counts as successful when:

  • It is comprehensible and followable for the listeners
  • It shows an inner consistency and coherence
  • It achieves the expected emotional effect (entertainment, comfort, surprise, etc.)
  • It is felt to be appropriate and relevant in the given context
  • It agrees with the conventions of the respective narrative format

The criteria vary strongly depending on the narrative context: in a scientific case study the precise sequence of facts is paramount, in a fairy tale the moral message, in an anecdote among friends the entertainment value.

How it can go wrong​

Narrating can fail in various ways:

  • The story is told too unstructured or confused
  • Essential elements are forgotten or presented in the wrong order
  • The narrator misses the appropriate tone for the situation
  • The story is too long, too short or thematically unsuitable for the context
  • The narrator loses himself in unimportant details and misjudges the core message
  • The listeners can establish no connection to the narrative

It becomes especially problematic when the narrator blurs the difference between fiction and reality, or when important parts of the story are left out in order to create a false impression.

How it is abused​

Narrating can be abused in many ways:

  • By telling "narratives" that inadmissibly oversimplify complex matters
  • By constructing enemy images and stereotypes in political or cultural narratives
  • By selectively omitting facts that do not fit the desired narrative
  • By telling stories meant to provoke emotional reactions in order to bypass rational reflection
  • By spreading "anecdotal evidence" instead of systematic data
  • By constructing conspiracy narratives that offer simple explanatory patterns for complex problems

A particularly powerful abuse is "gaslighting", in which a person's perception of reality is deliberately distorted through manipulative narratives.

Social role​

Narrating fulfils fundamental social functions:

  • It serves cultural transmission and the formation of tradition
  • It creates collective identity and a sense of community
  • It enables empathy by placing us into the experiences of others
  • It conveys implicit social norms and values
  • It offers emotional relief and the processing of experiences
  • It creates shared interpretations of reality

Ultimately human societies are permeated by narratives — from the great cultural "meta-narratives" down to the small everyday stories. In the ability to tell and understand stories lies a key to human cooperation and cultural evolution. At the same time, critical distance from the narratives that surround and shape us remains a central task of reflective thinking.