Narrative Deliberation? On Storytelling as a Necessary Component of Public Deliberation

Bibliographic Data

ID7355229
AuthorsMarcos Engelken-Jorge, Marcos Jorge (0000-0003-1827-9356, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume53
Issue1
Pages79-99
Publication date2016-03-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolítica y Sociedad (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1130-8001 • E-ISSN: 1988-3129
PublisherUniversidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5209/rev_poso.2016.v53.n1.48460
OpenAlexW2461169677
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited43

This paper deals with the place of narrative, that is, storytelling, in public deliberation. A distinction is made between weak and strong conceptions of narrative. According to the weak one, storytelling is but one rhetorical device among others with which social actors produce and convey meaning. In contrast, the strong conception holds that narrative is necessary to communicate, and argue, about topics such as the human experience of time, collective identities and the moral and ethical validity of values. The upshot of this idea is that storytelling should be a necessary component of any ideal of public deliberation. Contrary to recent work by deliberative theorists, who tend to adopt the weak conception of narrative, the author argues for embracing the strong one. The main contention of this article is that stories not only have a legitimate place in deliberation, but are even necessary to formulate certain arguments in the fi rst place; for instance, arguments drawing on historical experience. This claim, namely that narrative is constitutive of certain arguments, in the sense that, without it, said reasons cannot be articulated, is illustrated by deliberative theory’s own narrative underpinnings. Finally, certain possible objections against the strong conception of narrative are dispelled

Aesthetics · Deliberation · Epistemology · Ideal (ethics · Linguistics · Meaning (existential · Narrative · Narrative criticism · Narrative inquiry · Narrative network · Political science · Rhetorical question · Sociology · Storytelling · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Rhetoric and Communication Studies · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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