the timboucher experience

One of the terms that I really enjoy throwing around is “story-system.” I basically use it as a neutral term to describe and compare a variety of different types of stories, whether they take the form of a book, movie, game, anecdote or even a religion. It’s also meant as a nod of the head towards complex systems theory, and is a way for me to model not only stories, but the origins of those stories as well as their associated practices. I’m trying to look at the elements which all of these levels of stories share, in order to understand what makes them different from one another.

After a great deal of deliberation and a general inability to describe just what I mean by the term “story-system,” I developed a diagram to help me articulate what it is I’m interested in:

At the center of this diagram is the word “story,” and this is the central nucleus around which all story-systems revolve. Everybody knows what a story is essentially, but I want to think of it in cultural theory sense as being a cultural artifact (book, movie, story, event, etc) which can be “read”. The story is something which can also be read “literally” as some people read the Bible as historically accurate factual documentation.

I’m using “subtext” here to indicate a smaller story nested inside this (similar to “subplot” - perhaps subtext should refer to implicit subsidiary stories, and subplot to explicit ones). By “context” I mean to indicate the larger over-arching cultural story(s) which this one is a part of. This could be the genre or the cultural tradition the story draws from. It could also refer to things like symbolism, allegory and references to things which are contained in places besides the story. Reading into subtexts and contexts begins to move one away from strictly literal readings to more interpretative ones.

This organization of subtext > story > context relates to the concept of holons, where a discrete unit within the system is both a whole unto itself, as well as a part of a larger entity. An example of this is the biological progression of: cell > organ > organism > eco-system.

I’m also interested in Barthes’ idea that what an author does is to basically orchestrate and re-arrange existing stories to create new ones. This is what is referred to by the word “structure” in the diagram. The pattern which story-holons are arranged into which makes up the format. Essentially, it is the craft or skill whereby the story is told.

In order to place a story into such a structure, decisions must be made about what to include, and how to include it, as well as what to omit. Choices are also made about emphasis and sequence. The choices which go into the creation of a story-structure are what I mean by “purpose”. Choices may be intentional, subconscious or perhaps arbitrary. I think this section of the diagram relates most closely to what people mean when they talk about “media literacy,” although that field of study also looks at effects which stories have on people.

The final area of the diagram talks about what occurs psychologically as a result of this story. Effects, as well as agenda, may be conscious or subconscious, intellectual or emotional. It may also entail things like attitude & behavior modification, or it could be as simple as someone experiencing a story to be pleasurable, entertaining or insightful. Usually, it is a combination of all of the above. The other category of effect which I think deserves inclusion here is the mystical. Many theoretical models of how stories work and how people relate to them exclude, on scientific grounds, transcendental states. Conversely, many spiritual & religious traditions exclusively focus on mystical effects, without looking at any psychological root or correlation. This is an effort to synthesize all of the above.

Now that I’ve written all that and looked at the diagram more, I’ve found some spots which could be clarified, expanded and modified, but this right now feels pretty good to me as a working definition for my term “story-system”.

• Hero’s Journey as a model for integration
• Knee-Jerk Reactions & Cultural Auto-Immune System Response
• Feedback Loops
• Dissonance, Fundamentalism & Syncretism
• Divination & Projection into stories