According to Schütze
(1984; but see also Kallmeyer & Schütze, 1977), a narrator is obliged to
follow three basic principles when narrating: (i) “Kondensierungszwang”, i.e.,
an obligation to increase the density of a story as for instance by not telling
‘everything’ that can be remembered but choosing relevant experiences for what
is to be narrated; (ii) “Detaillierungszwang”, i.e., an obligation to give
detailed background information about emotional constellations, motives and
connected events so that a foreground can come to existence; and (iii) “Gestaltschliessungszwang”,
i.e., an obligation to fit parts into a larger whole that gives some form of
closure to the story as a whole. These three narrative principles are a mixture
of what a story is (or is supposed to
be) and what it means to tell a story, i.e., they follow from the structural
features of stories and how to make a story plausible and intelligible to one’s
audience. The argument is that a speaker needs to follow these principles,
since otherwise he/she will not be narrating a story, but rather give a
‘description’ or engage in ‘argumentation’.
From: Narrative Analysis and Identity Research: A Case for ‘Small Stories’ by Michael Bamberg
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