The Narrative Compression Project (Sara Cobb, Neta Oren, Jessica Cooley and Tres Thomas) is working to describe the realm of socio-politics as a “narrative field" in which, ideally, diverse narratives can circulate, providing a foundation for healthy social and political debate and productive decision making processes. However, there are political contexts where some narratives are granted legitimacy while any alternatives are marginalized. In this case, the narrative field becomes a smaller space that limits a comprehensive deliberative process. We are describing this as a process of narrative compression---it allows little or no access for counter narratives to the field and enables the dominant narrative to become the sole inhabitant of the discursive space. When counter-narratives are somehow able to penetrate the dominant, its architecture changes and it evolves. However, all too often the dominant narrative is also able to co-opt, within its framework, features of counter narratives without incorporating the latter’s core values. As a result, dominant narratives are allowed to masquerade as inclusive discourses while actually operating as a mechanism of marginalization.
We are calling the process by which this condition is reversed narrative decompression. For both studies of narrative compression and narrative decompression we are developing case studies; we are at present working on the Middle East conflict as a context for examining narrative compression. Later this spring, we plan to host a seminar at CNCR and invite those interested in this conflict or in narrative dynamics to participate and share ideas.
For more information please email cncr@gmu.edu.