This website is designed to be a forum for continuing the discussions initiated in The Story Species, by Joseph Gold, Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Toronto, 2002.
In 1987, when I first proposed the concept of narrative behaviour as part of the evolved human central nervous system, probably the defining part, the critical community based in Academe, were either scared, challenged, uncomprehending or fully vested in the advocacy of some other theory. They intuited the threat of a paradigm shift. To this day I am unable to find an English course in Canada that devotes any time or required reading to the role of the human brain in reading, writing, or all that astonishing activity that we celebrate as so necessary to our survival and well being and pleasure as human creatures.
This situation prevails, as I say to the best of my knowledge, in spite of the vast amount of work and writing on human brain function, which has helped to confirm the Story Species hypothesis.
Narrative is a human behaviour that may or may not be verbal. In its most primitive form, as with animals, narrative may be seen as being expressed in activities as basic as building nests, or storing food for winter. In human beings, the narrative function has evolved into religions, belief systems, fiction, social planning, poetry, board games and ballet and opera to name only a few of its forms. But narrative, in a human context, is most readily perceived as verbal and originates in human brains.
We inherit stories, we learn stories, and we evolve story making. Gods invented by humans left no evidence of their origins, understandably, or their lineage, or their creation. Other gods there may be, but since we humans can barely understand each other, and are by no means assured of our survival, we had better try to understand ourselves first, and this might well begin with biology, especially that which is apparently uniquely our own.
I will be posting comments on story making, on political narratives, and suggestions for research and discussion at frequent intervals. It is my hope that others who share my interests will join me here. Membership is free, and comments intended to expand and enrich our discussion will be welcome. WHC
Joseph Gold