Narrative and understanding

Narratives characterize the human condition and are central to the constitution of our psychological reality. Gábor Szécsi examines the influence of history and media on the way we narrate our world and offers a comprehensive analysis of the philosophical, linguistic and psychological theories that explain the relationship between narrative and mind. 

The narratives that determine our everyday cognition and communication processes can be considered both as cognitive tools that construct the world to be known and as entities that determine the processes of cognition. The author shows how the ability to understand and create stories becomes an integral element of our self-image, cognitive processes, and everyday decisions. His analysis of the relationship between narrative and mind focuses mainly on two areas: the problem of knowing the past and mediatization – the inescapable meta-flux of our time, which shapes culture and humanity. The analysis of the self- and community-shaping function of media narratives, and the clarification of the role of narratives in historical cognition, can provide useful long-term data on human motivations and goals. At the same time, it offers a basis for the development of a new concept of the self.