Foundational Functions of Fiction

Abstract

Part II is pivotal and substantial, demonstrating the uses of humanist inquiry at the level of narrative theory. It reveals how the concerns of narrative humanism can be situated alongside concepts developed in contemporary media theory, cognitive film studies, literary Darwinism, anthropology, social psychology and philosophy. This chapter introduces the concept of social narratology: a catalogue of the various social functions that story provides throughout our lives, and the way a humanist might use this knowledge to both understand and to create stories of ethical substance.