The Triumph of Narrative: Storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture

By Robert Fulford

Book Overview

Narrative has been central to human life for millennia, and the twentieth century has been preeminently the age of the story. Mass culture and mass leisure have enabled us to spend far more time absorbing stories, real and imaginary, than any of our ancestors. Whether or not this has been to our benefit is one of the questions raised by journalist and 1999 CBC Massey lecturer Robert Fulford. Narrative, Fulford points out, is how we explain, how we teach, how we entertain ourselves - often all at once. It is the bundle in which we wrap truth, hope, and dread. It is crucial to civilization.Fulford writes engagingly and energetically about narrative history, narrative in news coverage, the rise of electronic narrative, and narrative as it flourishes in the form of gossip, "the folk-art version of literature," revealing to us the mystery, power, and importance of story in all our lives.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0887846459
• ISBN13: 9780887846458
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: House of Anansi Press
• Length: 158 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A Read to Win

Fulford has opened my eyes to the significance of narrative. In this great reference to the many forms of narrative that are celebrated today and the past, Fulford combines a wonderful randition of thought provoking considerations which have helped me get through first year university english. It should be carried in every university student's backpack!

Tell Me a Story

Fulford's slim and easily readable book provides a fascinating glimpse into the way we use stories and narratives today. He points out how gossip is the new American storytelling, how postmodern linguistic theorists have their heads stuck in the sand, and gives startling evidence for how Ivanhoe influenced the culture of the Old South. I have great respect for authors who can provide complex theories in easily readable, humorous prose, and Fulford certainly fits that particular bill. Great for undergrads and anyone who likes a good read.

Engaging, thoughtful and accessible

An engaging, lucid and thoughtful exploration of the human impulse to tell stories, from urban legends to postmodernist theory. If I were still doing the academic thing I would be assigning this little book to first- and second-year history students. Since the text of this book was given as a series of lectures on CBC radio, it's a very fluid and easy read. Definitely worthwhile.