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Audience

Building on the foundations of Erving Goffman's dramaturgical theory, narrative researchers recognize that the narratives we tell are not simply individual endeavors but social ones where we present ourselves to another. Narratives are constructed and performed with the audience in mind. Because of this dialogical element, we may not be able to know the “subject” or “experiences,” but solely the narratives.

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

As Catherine Kohler Riessman indicates, the function of narratives revolves around the audience.

Her seven functions of a narrative are tied explicitly to the narrator's intended audience. First, Riessman points out that remembering the past for a particular audience is the most common use of narrative. It is the meaningful retelling of events to someone who may not have been there. Second, narratives are used to present an argument. Narrators present a narration in order to illustrate a point they are trying to articulate. Third, and related to the previous function, narratives can be used to persuade a skeptical audience to accept a particular truth. Not only will narrators present their point of view through a story, but they will also try to get the audience of the narrative to agree with them. The next function Riessman describes is the engagement of the audience into identifying with the narrator's experiences. This is an emotional aspect in that the narrator wants the audience to “buy into” what is being told. Fifth, narratives can be entertaining. Riessman says that this is one of the most overlooked functions in academic circles, but it is probably one of the most common reasons we tell one another stories in a conversation. The sixth function can be the use of a narrative to mislead an audience. A false story could be told so that the audience does not discover a particular “truth” about the narrative itself. Lastly, narratives can be employed to insti-gate social change. Personal stories can be told in order to make the personal political, so that people will take up a cause.

Application

Riessman applies this understanding of audience in her case study of two men's illness narratives. In this study, Riessman demonstrates how, within each narrative telling, the men are developing and performing their narrative in a way that makes it obvious that the audience is taken into account. Her first case, Randy, demonstrates how the audience is important in realizing which narrative self is performed and at what point in the interview. Two examples of this include (1) how the researcher's obvious discomfort with discussion on exploring homosexual identity steered the narrative in a potential new direction from where Randy would have wanted to go; and (2) how as an academic Randy felt comfortable critiquing the interview process, including that there was an insufficient amount of tape for him to tell all he wished to tell. The second case, Burt, shows how the desire for companionship from the audience, and to reinforce a masculine working-class identity in the face of disability, become central to the narration. This is a heroic tale of survival in the face of many dis-ruptions to Burt's identity (divorce, illness, loss of employment). With a female audience, both narrators construct a masculine narrative that takes this into account.

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