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I study the interaction of narrative and community, so here's a thread on current events and the stories we tell. 1/
The stories we tell each other shape our community identity. They tell us who we have been, who we are, and who we might become.
(see @jonathangottsch *The Storytelling Animal* http://jonathangottschall.com/storytelling-animal) 2/
(see @jonathangottsch *The Storytelling Animal* http://jonathangottschall.com/storytelling-animal) 2/
The stories we tell shape the way we interact with events around us. They give us the metaphors that help us make sense of the world. 3/
Stories shape perception in community groups of all sizes--families, university cohorts, friend groups, political parties, nations--and of all identity markers--religion, race, political allegiance, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality. 4/
My forthcoming monograph looks at how this works with fairy tales and the people who live in the United States, the identity category of Americans, broadly construed.
(see *Fairy Tales: How We Hate to Love Them* https://katekoppy.hcommons.org/ ) 5/
(see *Fairy Tales: How We Hate to Love Them* https://katekoppy.hcommons.org/ ) 5/
Watching the events at the U. S. Capitol on January 6th, I was struck by the way the stories those insurrectionists have been telling and consuming have shaped their perceptions of the the election and U. S. government. 6/
As Politico's @tina_nguyen describes here, for example, Parler has offered a place where stories of a rigged election and a deep state can flourish. 7/ https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/22/parler-maga-election-echo-chamber-439056
These stories about the 2020 election fit nicely into the canon of stories many of these folks had already been telling, particularly the Lost Cause narrative of the Confederacy, as described here by UVA professor @CarrieJanney. 8/
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/lost_cause_the
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/lost_cause_the
For Americans who don't consume the Lost Cause narrative, for whom it is not a productive metaphor about the world, seeing that flag inside the Capitol was chilling. 9/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/01/06/flying-flag-fascism-trump/
The 45th president has been, however, able to tap into this Lost Cause narrative metaphor over the last four years by using it to frame the other stories he's told about himself--as unjustly investigated by the Obama justice department, as undeservedly impeached by the House, 10/
...as having the election stolen from him by Biden. Over and over, he has framed himself as the righteous hero battling unscrupulous aggressors, including on the ellipse yesterday morning and in the afternoon video which Twitter has since taken down. 11/
You can be shocked by the sight of the Confederate battle flag in the U. S. capitol, but you should not be surprised. This is exactly who the United States is because it is a narrative that we, collectively, have tolerated. 12/
The stories we allow to be told matter. They matter a lot. Our stories shape the way we see the world, and when we don't challenge harmful narratives like the lost cause and the persecution claims of the 45th president, we allow them to continue to shape public perception. 13/
Now, we must be conscious of how we tell the story of the insurrection that took place January 6, 2020. Those who stormed the U. S. Capitol cannot be allowed to become heroes in our narrative. 14/fin.
Here's more about why this matters: https://twitter.com/RottenInDenmark/status/1347214874162601984?s=20
Pay attention to how the story is being told: https://twitter.com/profkfh/status/1347215506332405760
“This story is not unrelated to the American dream: a story about who deserves things simply by virtue of who they are, and who doesn’t; who is instantly presumed to be a true countryman, who will be told to go back to a place they never came from.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/07/trump-we-love-you-capitol-mob/?fbclid=IwAR36K5hZf1tZ5HGPHrADTlNMH60lhXThyEJ0NfQeCKeEHNIf2J-p8YCG_Yo
The words we use to tell our stories also matter a great deal. https://twitter.com/leakayali/status/1347303745206575108
