ANTH 095 Storytelling
Handout on Narrative Dimensions from Ochs and Capps
“Personal narrative is a way of using language or another symbolic system to imbue life events
with a temporal and logical order, to demystify them and establish coherence across past, present
and as yet unrealized experiences.” Ochs and Capps, pg. 2
Ochs and Capps argue that conversations are great locations to find stories for several reasons:
1. Conversations are “open-ended” It is usually informal, and is organized from one “turn”
to the next. There is give-and-take, and the flow of conversation can be unpredictable.
2. People use conversation to “air unresolved life events,” relying on the informal
atmosphere to explore different interpretations and get feedback
3. A good conversation often indicates a close or familiar relationship between people.
Having a conversation is a key way of sharing information about yourself and learning
about other people.
In all of these cases, people may tell stories to understand events better, to communicate about
themselves and their experiences, and so forth. Conversational stories are extremely social
events.
Ochs and Capps “Narrative Dimensions”
Features of narrative: description, chronology, explanation, evaluation
Tellership – extent and kind of involvement of conversational partners in the actual recounting;
can be seen as the social organization of who tells a story
Tellability – the extent to which an account conveys a sequence of reportable events and makes a
point in a rhetorically effective manner
Embeddedness – the extent to which a narrative stands on its own (“detached”) or is part of the
conversation, for example whether people ask questions, interrupt the narrative, etc.
Linearity – the extent to which narratives of personal experience depict events as transpiring in a
single, closed, temporal and causal path (or not)
Moral Stance – assumed by storytellers and characters in their stories – an attitude towards what
is good and valuable, and ideas of how one ought to live
Dimensions
Elements of variation
Tellership –
who tells the story, is there conarration, “rights” to tellership
Tellability –
can be high, low, or in-between
Embeddedness – how dependent is it on surrounding talk/discussion?
Linearity –
temporal, causal, “flashbacks,” other type of organization?
Moral Stance –
attitude towards or evaluation of events/resolution