by ccv

Created on: December 09, 2006   Last Updated: April 23, 2007

The telling of a story is a narrative performance. As a human communication practice, performing narrative combines the "doing" of storytelling with what is "done" in the performance of a story. Family storytelling is a communication practice in which families, remember, transmit, and innovate stories through generations. It is a routine of daily life, and is a product of family interaction.

The author emphasizes storytelling as a way of "doing" family. The mundane experience of performing narrativelistening to and telling storiessuggests that storytelling is first and foremost a human communication practice. The simple act of saying "let me tell you a story" establishes a communication relationship that constitutes the speaker as a storyteller and the listeners as audience.

The emphasis on storytelling performance conceptualizes narrative as an act, event, and discoursea site for understanding and interpreting the ways culture produces, maintains, and transforms relations of identity and difference.

Applications of and central issues the theory addresses:

Storytelling functions to perform family in an acquired structure similar to a small-group culture. This acquired structure focuses on the hierarchy of content, task, and group-ordering by listening telling and retelling. By focusing on the structure of content task and group-ordering, the information conveyed in the family storytelling provides a successful strategy for survival.

Content Ordering
Task of organizing and recalling events, activities, or identities for storing, retrieving, and transmitting.
Task Ordering
Takes place within the context of content-ordering.
Focuses on creating and maintaining a productive relationship with the environment. It also
assigns according to generation and gender.
Group Ordering
Is the most complex and is only successful upon the success of the content ordering and task ordering. In storytelling family members can see themselves within the stories which constitute identities and regulates interests that distinguish individuals and individual families. Families negotiate these identities in storytelling as a way to adapt to their environment.

By performing through storytelling, the difficulties of communication can be processed to make an easier understanding of family dynamics. The process of storytelling also addresses the power structure within the family and distinguishes gender roles, class, race, sexuality, and culture.

Disciplines the theory draws on:

Merleau-Ponty was

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>