Definition: Narrative

The coherent and transmissible representation through which a system of ideas is explained and legitimated so that others can understand, evaluate and internalise it.

• Explanation. A narrative is not the same as a system of ideas. The system of ideas is the substantive coherence; the narrative is the form in which that coherence is made com­prehensible, recognisable and transmissible. Ideology is therefore not used as a syn­onym. In ordinary language, ideology often carries a normative or propagandistic conno­tation, whereas narrative performs an analytical function here. For purposes of transmis­sion, a narrative may gain strength when its content is expressed as simply as possible without losing the necessary coherence of the system of ideas.