Book Review: Human Communication as Narration

In perhaps his most distinguished voice to empty talkal hypothesis and the understanding of military man communion, Walter fisher cat presents an interpretation of his level paradigm in kind-hearted confabulation as Narration Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value and Action. This book essenti al 1y elaborates on and refines pekans previous articles on the biography paradigm and aims to present a much than complete explanation of the systems roots, as wellhead as its main tenets and relevant applications.Human Communication as Narration begins with an exhaustive testing of the history of narrations and logic, which includes his assertion that the logic by which humane communion should be assessed return to the roots of the original meaning of logos story, reason, rationale, conception, discourse, thought (p. 10). He asserts that Plato and Aristotle transformed the word logos into a specific term that employ only to philosophical/technical discourse, which launche d a historical hegemonic struggle that has lasted for to a greater extent than 2,000 years (p. 10). fisherman explains that the positivist, rational-world paradigm that emphasized full-dress logic and reasoning (p. 58) is modify upon with his view of a more post-modern, ontological asylum where meaning is co-created by means of less formal structures like stories. In resurrecting the original meaning of logos, foundation his theory in ontology, and classifying human beings as Homo narrans (p. xi) , or storytelling animals, Fisher rejects the notion that technical logic is the only path to faithfulness and friendship, and argues that, as the antediluvians believed, all human converse is rational and contains truth and knowledge (p. 0). This more inclusive account of human communication together with the view that all human communication needs to be seen as stories sets the foundation for Fishers theory of chronicles. In presenting the main points of his fib theory over seve ral chapters, Fisher explains that humans experience and understand life as a serial of ongoing narratives, and that these stories are symbolic interpretations of aspects of the world that are historically and culturally grounded and molded by human personality (p. 9). Given that stories are more than exclusively a figure of speech and progress to the super condition to twain pronounce and influence, Fisher establishes narrative reason as a universal logic and means for the assessment for stories that is accessible by nature to all human beings (p. 47). This assessment is tested against narrative prob energy ( cohesiveness) and fidelity (truthfulness and reliability) (p. 47) in former(a)(a) words, humans come to believe in and act on stories in so much as they re late to and identify with them.Going back to his assertion that human communication doesnt have to exist in perfective aspect structures of rhetorical arguments, he further explains that all humans possess the abi lity to reason and croupe therefore both communicate and accept truth as good reasons (p. 105). Perhaps an even better, more succinct explanation of this comes earlier in the book where Fisher states that the materials of the narrative paradigm are symbols, signs of consubstantiation, and good reasons are the communicative expression of social reality (p. 5). By including both formal logic and a logic of good reasons in the background for argument, Fishers narrative paradigm contributes to rhetorical theory by expanding the meaning of persuasion just as Burkes theory of identification did. Since the average person isnt trained in formal logic, Fisher believed that the logic of good reasons (i. e. common sense), sits above all other persuasive means since it is universal and inherent in all human communication.Fisher goes on to assert that narrative tenability should besides be the foundation on which a complete theory of rhetoric needs to be built (p. 194). In this sense, the sel ection of stories we tell and come to accept is epideictical of who we are and what we want others to believe about us. In the final constituent of his book, Fisher applies his narrative rationality in several real-world fount studies including the rhetoric of Ronald Reagan, Death of a Salesman, The Great Gatsby and the philosophical discussion between Socrates and Callicles in Platos Gorgias.These examples provide a helpful demonstration of how narrative rationality can be used to assess the coherence, truthfulness and reliability of stories across a wide range of contexts. In conceptualizing and applying narrative rationality, Fisher contributes an important method for the study of narratives in a physique of communication contexts, which is one of the most important contributions he makes to the study of communication. Through Human Communication as Narration, Fisher provided a more accessible, universal means for communication and understanding human truth.Drawing inspirat ion from the works of Kenneth Burke, Alasdair MacIntyre, Stephen Toulmin and Chaim Perelman, Fishers narrative paradigm argues that formal logic and the positivist view are inadequately prepared to account for the motives and values in human communication. He offers a broader explanation that all forms of human communication are driven by and evolve from our inherent need to determine whether an accounting of new knowledge matches up with what we already know.In the 30 years since Human Communication as Narration was first published, scholars and professionals from a wide range of disciplines have employ Fishers narrative paradigm in a variety of contexts. record methods for rhetorical analysis and criticism have been used by Barbara Sharf (1990), Hollihan and Riley (1987), and Michael Cornfield (1992), among many others. In 1993, David Mains argued that the time was ripe for a spark toward narrative sociology, which asserted that sociologys phenomena is made up precisely of stor ies (p. 2) as well as that sociologists are mainly narrators. The use of narratives as a means for persuasion in advertising and public relations has been widely documented in recent years by Cinzia Bianchi (2011) Barbara Stern, Craig Thompson and Eric Arnould (1998) and Melanie Green (2006). The narrative paradigm has also been deployed in social communication and organizational communication (Ashcraft & Pacanowsky, 1996). And a large body of research has been dedicated to the study of narratives as a strategy in conflict resolution as well (Gergen & Gergen, 2006 Sandole et al. 2009). These are just a few of the ways in which Fishers narrative paradigm still contributes to the understanding of human communication today. But while the narrative paradigm has enjoyed a renaissance of late with new research that refines and extends the theory (Currie, 2005 Kirkwood, 1992 McClure, 2009 Stroud, 2002), largely due to its growing multi-disciplinary lodge in as noted above, it has also a ttracted much criticism. But while these scholars recognised its value, they have also demonstrated that it is not as useful for small analysis as it aimed to be.Stroud (2002) found issue with the lack of account for contradiction in terms in stories when assessing narrative rationality. Kirkwood (1992) felt that Fishers narrative rationality is limiting in that it doesnt allow for the possibilities of new stories to be recognized and acted upon. He goes on to argue that a rhetoric of possibility presented finished narratives can better account for how rhetors challenge people with new and unsuspected possibilities of being and action in the world (Kirkwood, 1992, p. 31).McClure (2009) also specifically argued that the narrative paradigm must also account for the inventional possibilities of new narratives, the rhetorical rescript of old narratives, and the appeal and acceptance of improbable narrative accounts (p. 191). He also asserts that by expanding the role of Burkes ident ification, the narrative paradigm can become a more viable theory and method of criticism. art object several scholars have both praised and criticized Fishers narrative paradigm, the case of his story that related to narratives origins, philosophical foundation and relevance to human communication rang true for me.In my study of rhetorical theory I, too, have often felt that the structures of formal argument are too constrictive and limiting in their ability to interpret all forms of persuasive communication. When exploitation Fishers own narrative rationality to measure the coherence and fidelity of Human Communication as Narration, I find it to be both coherent and true especially from my viewpoint as a woman living in a post-modern, post-structuralist society who works in the field of public relations where stories are the very fabric of our communication strategies.And while I recognize the validity of the proposed extensions of his theory by Kirkwood (1992), McClure (200 9) and Stroud (2002), I feel they also serve as proof points for the generative power of Fishers paradigm in new ways of intellection about stories. References Ashcraft, K. & Pacanowsky, M. (1996). A womans worst enemy Reflections on a narrative of organizational life and female identity. Journal of apply Communication Research, 24, 217-239. Bianchi, C. (2011). Semiotic approaches to advertising texts and strategies Narrative, passion, marketing.Semiotica, 183, 243-271. Cornfield, M. (1992). 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