Narrative Paradigm

A communication theory that treats human discourse as fundamentally narrative: people comprehend, evaluate and persuade through stories whose acceptability depends on narrative coherence (internal consistency and structural probability) and narrative fidelity (congruence with the audience’s values and taken‑for‑granted beliefs), rather than solely on formal logical argumentation.

A communication theory that defines human sense‑making and persuasive judgment as primarily organized by narratives: people evaluate messages according to internal narrative coherence and fidelity to values or experience rather than only by formal logical proof or isolated propositions.