Public Narrative

Encyclopedia Term: Public Narrative

Background

A narrative is a recounted story of an event. Public narratives are stories that represent individual and collective responses to a certain event. They shape collective memory through reliance on generally accepted narrative elements (Wertsch 2008, 120). Public narratives are distinct from individual narratives in that they exist in a broader social and cultural context (Mohatt 2008, 130). Individual narratives would be an individual’s perception of a certain concept while a public narrative would be society’s agreed upon, circulating perception.

Marshall Ganz defines the public narrative as the three elements of self, us and how. The element of self describes one’s personal experiences and defining values. The element of us describes the shared values and experiences of a community. Ganz describes the story of us as “points of intersection”, meaning the intersection of several individual experiences to make a collective whole defining the experiences the community. For example, Ganz cites the moment the planes hit the Twin Towers as a point where our individual threads intersected. Each individual had their own perception of this crisis based on personal experiences, cultures, faith, friends, etc. On the day the planes hit the Twin Towers, our individual threads intersected into a shared story as we shared a crisis and learned from others about how to react and what values to promote to move forward as a community (Ganz 2011, 285). Finally, the story of now defines the choices we make now, based on our past and desired future. The entire public narrative first defines an individual identity, then a collective identity, and, finally, helps populations to act now (Ganz 2011, 274). Furthermore, Ganz argues that the public narrative is a leadership tool. Therefore, leaders use the public narrative because it embodies the values of a community, and, by advocating on these shared values, leaders can use these values to mobilize action (Ganz 2011, 288).

Topical Context

A public narrative can be widely used for research in many fields of social sciences. It is a useful tool for conducting research and understanding the behavior of individuals and societies. Nathanial Mohatt examines public narratives in the context of historical trauma. He describes how a public narrative on some historical trauma event can be used to study present day experiences. Public narratives surrounding a historical trauma determine how an individual in that community is going to view the trauma and therefore influences their sense of personal identity. Therefore, the study of a historical trauma can shed light on present day society and individuals. Mohatt expands to offer the possibility of using public narrative to understand present day health: “public narrative offers a framework for analyzing how historical traumas are relayed and connected to present-day contexts and health outcomes.” (Mohatt 2008, 133). He promotes a narrative model (Figure 1) that demonstrates how historical trauma narratives provide public and personal reminders and how the intensity of the narrative salience all have health impacts on the individual and the health of the community. Narrative salience refers to how noticeable or accessible the historical trauma is to an individual. If a narrative is more salient then it will have a bigger impact on the individual (Mohatt 2008, 132). Therefore, public narratives can be used from a sociological aspect to understand human interactions, society, and public health.

A public narrative can be widely used for research in many fields of social sciences. It is a useful tool for conducting research and understanding the behavior of individuals and societies. It can be used from an anthropological perspective to study past and present culture and the development over time. Public narratives can also be examined from a psychological aspect in determining the mental or emotional state of an individual. For example, Natan Kellermann did a study in which he found that the children of Holocaust survivors have a higher predisposition to PTSD (2001b, 259). He was able to use the historical trauma of the Holocaust to understand and explain the present day psychological status of children.

Similar to this study on the children of Holocaust survivor, many negative health outcomes have been identified as a result of historical trauma. Links between the public narrative and health have huge potential for further research in understanding the present day behavior of individuals and societies. Mohatt stresses the idea that in attempting to understand a historical trauma, one should examine the present day experience instead of searching for a historical explanation (Mohatt 2008, 130).

Figure 1. Narrative Model of How Historical Trauma Impacts Health (Mohatt 2011, 132).

Politics of Health

The term is related to politics of health because a public narrative can be used to understand the broader community health. Using Mohatt’s concept of the narrative model, the narrative salience is incredibly important in studying a historical trauma and understanding the resulting health impacts on a community and its individuals. When trying to understand the health and well-being of a population, one can use the public narrative of a specific event to ascertain the psychological well-being of that community. Mohatt stresses the idea that in attempting to understand a historical trauma, one should examine the present day experience instead of searching for a historical explanation (Mohatt 2008, 130). Two uses of public narrative cited in this article are as a leadership tool and for understanding the effect of historical trauma. Mohatt uses the public narrative to understand the impact on present-day health (Mohatt 2008, 128). Ganz examines the use of the public narrative as a leadership tool to mobilize action based on shared values. Leaders prompt action in others by engaging in the shared values that stem from a public narrative (Ganz 2011, 276). Links between the public narrative and health have huge potential for further research in understanding the present day behavior of individuals and societies.