Narrative, Culture, and Mind

I AM FASCINATED by how narrative, the story form, is able to shape our immediate experience, even to influence deeply our conceptions of what is real, what must be real. Indeed, we are beginning to understand how cultures rely upon narrative conventions to maintain their coherence and to shape their members to their requirements. Indeed, commonplace stories and narrative genres even provide a powerful means whereby cultures pass on their norms to successive generations. Narrative is serious business. Let me pursue these matters a step or two further. I want particularly to explore what narrative is, what functions it serves,