Narration as a human communication paradigm: The case of public moral argument

Abstract

This essay proposes a theory of human communication based on a conception of persons as homo narrans. It compares and contrasts this view with the traditional rational perspective on symbolic interaction. The viability of the narrative paradigm and its attendant notions of reason and rationality are demonstrated through an extended analysis of key aspects of the current nuclear war controversy and a brief application to The Epic of Gilgamesh. The narrative paradigm synthesizes two strands in rhetorical theory: the argumentative, persuasive theme and the literary, aesthetic theme.

Notes

Walter R. Fisher is Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California. He wishes to acknowledge the constructive readings of early drafts of this essay by Ernest G. Bormann, Kenneth Burke, W. Lance Bennett, Wayne Brockriede, John Angus Campbell, Bruce E. Gronbeck, Michael Calvin McGee, John S. Nelson, Calvin O. Schrag, and Herbert W. Simons.