A Narrative Approach to Social Knowledge

The phenomenon of narrative is explored as a form of discourse representing a system of interconnected and sequentially structured stories aimed at creating meaning through the construction of social realities and establishment of subject positions within value systems framed by plot and story line. Emphasis is placed on the narrative approach employed in the humanities and political sciences as a relevant tool utilized in political activity to shape worldviews among diverse social groups, illustrating how storytelling can generate facts, affect reality interpretation, transform perceptions of events and fictions, determine the hierarchy of values, and elicit patriotic sentiment due to its persuasive effects. Narratives function universally across sociopolitical and daily contexts as conduits for conveying political viewpoints and providing varied perspectives on practices and ontologies. The differential characteristics of distinguishing metanarratives, alternative narratives, counternarratives, and anti-fake narratives as subtypes are outlined. A set of criteria is provided for describing and classifying these types of narratives based on ideological concepts and counterconcepts, strategic relevance, social significance, objectives of narrative creation, themes of storytelling, genres of narratives, numbers of narrators, numbers of characters, numbers of plotlines, time-relatedness, and structural organization of narratives.