What is a narrative?

When defining narrative the mind usually goes to something like a book. Abbott states that, “We think of it as a novel or sagas or folk tales or, at the least anecdotes” (Abbott P1). It is a common thing that most people’s minds will be directed to a novel that they have read that was called a narrative when trying to define what a narrative is. Roland Barthes defines a narrative as “A prodigious variety of genres, themselves distributed amongst different substances” (Barthes P1). Any person can create a narrative. They are created every day. Abbott states it perfectly when it’s stated that “We make narratives many times a day, every day of our lives. And we start doing so almost from the moment we begin putting words together” (AbbottP1.) Perhaps narratives are something that people never quite know how to define. Narratives are one of those things that people are surrounded with on a constant basis. Narratives can be any form of a story. A narrative can be long or short and sad or happy; there is no set tone for a narrative, just like there is not a set time for a narrative.

Abbott states that a “Narrative is so much a part of the way we apprehend the world in time that it is virtually built in to the way we see”(Abbott P6). The question could be rose from this statement whether or not the way people apprehend the world is the right way. Or whether or not the narratives people make from apprehending the world the way we do are things that people do without realization. Barthes states that “A narrative is present at all times, in all places, in all societies” (Barthes P237). People can be describing something that happened in their day and that would be a narrative. Every single person in the world can create a narrative. A narrative is something that everyone can do, most things in this world revolve around money and if countries don’t have it people can’t do it. But with narratives it doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor, educated or not, a narrative can still be made. Most people think a narrative is something that is a lengthy story that is published or something along those lines, and that is couldn’t be more wrong. Barthes states that “Narratives exist in every genre of art, and have for centuries” (Barthes p 251). Barthes makes a strong point here by saying that narratives exist in every genre of art because that shows that narratives can be any form of story.

“It can be derived that a narrative's purpose is to exchange information by means of a "giver of narrative and a recipient of narrative" (Barthes 260). That is the simplest form of the definition of a narrative or something related to it. The point cannot be stressed enough that the definition of a narrative is simple yet complex in the ways that it can appear. There can be many complex or complicated narratives but that doesn’t mean that the person creating it has to be complex. Barthes had many statements in his reading about how anyone can create a narrative; this was a strong point that needed to get across. With everything in the way it is in the world and the media it isn’t just the celebrities or wealthy people who can form a narrative, it is EVERYONE. That is something that everyone in this world has in common, forming a narrative or multiple narratives every day of their lives. Making narratives have become easier in today’s society because of the social networking sites available to people. Now with Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace it is easier for people to show the narratives they have in their lives.


1. Abbott, H. Porter. "Narrative and Life, Defining Narrative." The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008. Print.
2. Barthes, Roland. Introduction to the Structural Analysis of the Narrative. Johns Hopkins UP, 1975. Print.