“…We can say that narrative, after facing every conceivable challenge
in modern times, remains central to our existence, our companion, forever
puzzling, forever irreplaceable” (152).

Robert Fulford (a prominent Canadian cultural journalist), in his book,
The Triumph of Narrative: Storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture (a
transcription of his 1999 Canadian Massey Lectures), uses journalism experience
and a keen eye towards the relationship between society, culture, and human
needs and desires to analyze the almost unthinkably powerful and omnipresent
role narrative and storytelling have had in the world’s cultures of the
past and present. Throughout the text, Fulford analyzes academic and intellectual
sources directly alongside gossip, movies, urban legends (calling them
the “spontaneous efflorescence of the popular imagination” (62)), and television,
treating all as equally important and pivotal in the history of the growth
and redefinition of the roles of narratives in cultures and cultures’ corresponding
shapings of narratives.

Fulford illustrates, through examples mostly coming from the post-modern
literary and cultural age, how the pervading idea of narrative as a generality
and the “master narratives” (traditional stories by which societies have
often conducted themselves, including the Bible, etc.) specifically, have
been attacked, challenged, and discredited, yet how narrative ultimately
both survives and maintains its supremacy through constant growth, change,
and redefinition. As Fulford puts it, “humanity clings to narrative” (7),
and he believes that it is precisely this “clinging” which provides the
central impetus for narrative’s continual cultural dominance.

The only drawbacks that I discovered in this work were Fulford’s sweeping
condemnations and denials of the legitimacy and importance of postmodern
thought and criticism, asserting that:

In the most common view of postmodernists, narrative is a deception.
The world is not a place of … coherence- and when narrative arranges the
world in that way in order to tell a story and reach out to an audience,
narrative lies… it must constantly remind us that it is indeed fiction
(103).

Although Fulford is indeed accurate in his assertions about the content
of postmodern thought, he frequently comes across as so attached to the
idea of the total supremacy of narrative that he finds it troublesome to
fully concede and allow that narrative often needs to be challenged in
order to question the societal effects its assumptions and premises can
have upon humanity (racism, sexism, homophobia, etc.). Asserting that postmodern
thought believes literature to be “essentially political” (99), Fulford
attacks this theory for turning “professors and students… into police officers”
(100). However, Fulford overall offers a very balanced, informed, and personal
account of his chosen theme, managing to be subjective and particular while
still maintaining a strong intellectual comprehension and analysis of his
subject.

The Triumph of Narrative is an easy and an enjoyable read, using
an intimate and conversational style to shine significance onto frequently
undervalued forms of communication and to analyze a sweeping subject that
most people take for granted. The analysis and study of why we believe
or do not believe certain narratives, fictional or otherwise, was extremely
compelling. Anyone interested in the ways in which narrative has shaped
our ideas of history, time, culture, and ourselves will enjoy this book
and find it an easy yet powerful read, and come away with new and useful
cultural and humanistic knowledge. A recommended read.

 

 

© 2001 Miranda Celeste Hale

 

Miranda Celeste Hale:
I’m a 22-year old recent college graduate from the University of Washington
(with a degree in English Language and Literature) who will be attending
graduate school this autumn or the next. I love to write, and hope to have
a long career in writing and the study of literature.

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