The Inevitability, and Danger, of Narrative

Abstract

Abstract It has been suggested that some of the problems currently being faced regarding “alternate facts,” “fake news,” and, more generally, what Michiko Kakutani has called “the death of truth” have emerged in part owing to the work of postmodern theorists and the like (including some theorists of narrative) who have promoted forms of inquiry that paved the way to the current crisis. Whether this is so is open to question; it is not at all clear how much to credit academic theorists for large cultural trends of this sort. Nevertheless, it seems important at this juncture to examine the relevant ideas and craft some suitable means of addressing the crisis at hand. This chapter has a threefold focus: to assess the connection that Kakutani and others have posited; to enumerate some of the dangers of narrative, particularly as they have emerged in the Trump era; and, in light of these, to determine how these dangers might meaningfully be addressed. Doing so will not whisk away the current crisis; its roots go deep. But it may serve to provide a measure of direction for those committed to exploring ways of speaking to the strange and often dispiriting sociopolitical and psychological landscape that currently exists.