The Features of Narratives: A Model of Narrative Form for Social Change Efforts

By Frameworks Institute

Contents

Introduction

This report by The Frameworks Institute introduces a model of narrative form for use in social change work, defining the elements and identifying the patterns in stories that comprise the narrative form.

Calls for narrative change abound in social change work. But what kinds of patterns qualify as narratives, and how narratives are embedded within particular stories, remains hazy. We developed a model of narrative, defining the elements and identifying the patterns in stories that comprise the narrative form. Our model identifies a set of features that make up a narrative, offering a practical tool for those working to change narratives within and beyond the issue of poverty.

There is widespread agreement that cultural narratives are “patterns of stories,” but thinkers and strategists in the narrative change space—including FrameWorks—generally haven’t explained what kinds of patterns qualify as narratives. As a result, it’s no surprise that narrative is frequently conflated with other types of frames, like values, metaphors, and emphasis frames.

This report, sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, develops a model of narrative form for use in social change work. We think delineating the contours of narrative form is the key to unlocking a clearer understanding of narrative change. Focusing on form allows us to identify the types of patterns in stories that comprise narratives.

The model identifies a set of features that, taken together, make up the form of narrative. The model, which was developed and tested by engaging with the rich and varied perspectives of storytellers, activists, scholars, and marketers, among others, is designed to be a practical tool for those engaged in narrative change work.

The model can be used to distinguish narratives from other framing strategies, which can help strategists and communicators use narratives where they are needed.

It can be used to diagnose existing narratives and emerging ones, which can help those working for narrative change sharpen their responses to the existing context. And most importantly, the model can be used to develop and test new counternarratives and disseminate them.

This report is intended primarily for narrative strategists, researchers, and others who are already conversant in the language of narrative change. It is meant as a foundational document that provides a deep dive into the model of form, the rationale behind it, and its potential applications. While narrative strategists and researchers should be able to take immediate lessons from this report and begin to use the model straight away, making the model usable for others—including, critically, content creators—will require additional, issue-specific toolkits and other materials. At the conclusion of the report, we briefly review what it will take to put the model into creative practice.

Report

Introduction 4
What Is Narrative, and Why Does
Its Form Matter? 7
Why Do We Need a Model of Narrative Form? 12
A Model of Narrative Form 15
The Model: Formal Features of Narrative 17
Features That Vary Across Stories 27
Do Stories Need to Include All of the Features
of a Narrative to Convey the Narrative? 28
The Four Uses of the Model (the Four D’s) 31
Distinguish What Is and Isn’t a Narrative 32
Diagnose Narratives 33
Develop and Test Counter-Narratives 34
Disseminate Counter-Narratives 36
Putting the Model into Creative Practice 43
Appendix: Interview Participants 45
Endnotes 46
About FrameWorks 55