Is this story helpful or harmful?
4 September 2023
Stories have the power to persuade and shift attitudes, believes and actions. However, as much as stories can be used for positive outcomes, we must be cognizant of how they stories might have a negative effect as well.
Researchers call recurring stories, or narrative arcs, “master” or “dominant” narratives. These dominant narratives play a large role in how we perceive the world around us. The stories that we take in through our media consumption can often shift our outlook on the world (often explored through cultivation theory) and may give us impressions that are not backed up by the data.
When we talk about dominant narratives, we often share the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk ‘The Danger of a Single Story,’ and caution story builders to be cognizant of the effect their stories are telling to the wider perspectives of our audiences.
These single stories, or dominant narratives, can have a damaging effect on the veracity of narratives among certain populations, or could have a negative sociological effect by reinforcing stereotypes that could stigmatize certain populations. These stories create a single story in the mind of the audience about that population, absent of complexity, diversity and nuance, and as a result, reinforce stereotypes and biases.
Narratives that don’t conform to these master narratives are called counter narratives and are an emerging tool to increase the power of our storytelling. Social movement activists and organizations often work to create and amplify counternarratives about a particular issue or population to challenge cultural stereotypes and create new ways of seeing the world.
So as you are building your story, take a moment to analyze how the story you are telling fits into the larger narratives around your issue. Is it helpfully affirming a useful dominant narrative, or would you have more power in using a counter narrative to share your story?
Researchers call recurring stories, or narrative arcs, “master” or “dominant” narratives. These dominant narratives play a large role in how we perceive the world around us. The stories that we take in through our media consumption can often shift our outlook on the world (often explored through cultivation theory) and may give us impressions that are not backed up by the data.
When we talk about dominant narratives, we often share the novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk ‘The Danger of a Single Story,’ and caution story builders to be cognizant of the effect their stories are telling to the wider perspectives of our audiences.
These single stories, or dominant narratives, can have a damaging effect on the veracity of narratives among certain populations, or could have a negative sociological effect by reinforcing stereotypes that could stigmatize certain populations. These stories create a single story in the mind of the audience about that population, absent of complexity, diversity and nuance, and as a result, reinforce stereotypes and biases.
Narratives that don’t conform to these master narratives are called counter narratives and are an emerging tool to increase the power of our storytelling. Social movement activists and organizations often work to create and amplify counternarratives about a particular issue or population to challenge cultural stereotypes and create new ways of seeing the world.
So as you are building your story, take a moment to analyze how the story you are telling fits into the larger narratives around your issue. Is it helpfully affirming a useful dominant narrative, or would you have more power in using a counter narrative to share your story?
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