Walter Fisher (1931–2018)In memoriam: Walter R. Fisher, 87
/ref> was an American academic credited with formalizing

Kenneth Burke Kenneth Duva Burke (May 5, 1897 – November 19, 1993) was an American literary theorist, as well as poet, essayist, and novelist, who wrote on 20th-century philosophy, aesthetics, criticism, and rhetorical theory. As a literary theorist, Burke ...

Dramatism Dramatism, a communication studies theory, was developed by Kenneth Burke as a tool for analyzing human relationships through the use of language. Burke viewed dramatism from the lens of logology, which studies how people's ways of speaking shape ...

and introducing the

narrative paradigm Narrative paradigm is a communication theory conceptualized by 20th-century communication scholar Walter Fisher (professor), Walter Fisher. The paradigm claims that all meaningful communication occurs via storytelling or Narrative, reporting of even ...

to communication theory. Fisher was Professor

Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the Annenberg School for Communication. Fisher's body of work is based on the concept that people are essentially storytellers, referred to as narrative theory. Storytelling is one of the oldest and most universal forms of

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and so Fisher propounded that individuals approach their social world in a narrative mode and make decisions and act within this narrative framework

History

Narrative theory was developed by Walter Fisher. Fisher obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1960 and went on to become a professor, among other things. Perhaps Fisher’s most notable contribution was his formulation of the narrative approach to

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

and

communication theory Communication theory is a proposed description of communication phenomena, the relationships among them, a storyline describing these relationships, and an argument for these three elements. Communication theory provides a way of talking about a ...

. In 1979 he was awarded the Golden Anniversary Monograph Award from the Speech Communication Association for the article that introduced narrative theory to the field of communication. However, as is the case with most new theories, narrative theory was not totally accepted by the discipline (Miller, 2005, p. 92). Narrative theory clashed with several pre-existing beliefs as to the nature of human beings and how they communicate and act. Fisher describes this contrast by identifying the tenets of what he sees as two universal paradigms: the rational world paradigm, and the

(Fisher, 1987).

Publications

Books

*Fisher, Walter R. (1987). ''Human Communication as Narration: Toward a Philosophy of Reason, Value, and Action''. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.

Book chapters

*Fisher, Walter R. (1995). "Narration, Knowledge, and the Possibility of Wisdom" in ''Rethinking Knowledge: Reflections Across the Disciplines (SUNY Series in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences)''. (Fisher & Robert F. Goodman as editors). New York: State University of New York Press.

Papers

*Fisher, Walter R. (1984). "Narration as a Human Communication Paradigm: The Case of Public Moral Argument." i
Communication Monographs
51. pp. 1–22. *Fisher, Walter R. (1985). "The Narrative Paradigm: An Elaboration." i
Communication Monographs
52. December. pp. 347–367. *Fisher, Walter R. (1985). "The Narrative Paradigm: In the Beginning." in

Journal of Communication The ''Journal of Communication'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles and book reviews on a broad range of issues in communication theory and research. It was established in 1951 and the current editor-in-chief is ...

35.Autumn. pp. 74–89. *Fisher, Walter R. (1988). "The Narrative Paradigm and the Assessment of Historical Texts." in

Argumentation and Advocacy ''Argumentation and Advocacy'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Taylor & Francis, edited by Beth Innocenti of University of Kansas. The journal was previously edited by Katherine Langford, Harry Weger, Catherine H. Palcz ...

25.Fall. pp. 49–53. *Fisher, Walter R. (1989). "Clarifying the Narrative Paradigm." i
Communication Monographs
56. pp. 55–58. *Fisher, Walter R. (1994). "Narrative Rationality and the Logic of Scientific Discourse." in

Argumentation Argumentation theory, or argumentation, is the interdisciplinary study of how conclusions can be supported or undermined by premises through logical reasoning. With historical origins in logic, dialectic, and rhetoric, argumentation theory, includ ...

8. pp. 21–32.

References

*Deslandes, J. (2004). A Philosophy of Emoting Journal of Narrative Theory - Volume 34, Number 3, Fall 2004, pp. 335–372. *Fisher, W.R. (1984). Narration as a human communication paradigm: The case of public moral argument. ''Communication Monographs, 52,'' 347-367. *Fisher, W.R. (1987). ''Human communication as a narration: Toward a philosophy of reason, value, and action.'' Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press. *Miller, K. (2005). ''Communication theories: Perspectives, processes, and contexts.'' New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. *Rowland, R.C. (1989). On limiting the narrative paradigm: Three case studies. ''Communication Monographs, 56,'' 39-54. *Smith, L.D. (1989). A narrative analysis of the party platforms: The Democrats and Republicans of 1984. ''Communication Quarterly, 37,'' 91-99. *Small, Mario Luis. (2004) ''Villa Victoria.''

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Walter R. 1931 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American psychologists Communication theorists University of Southern California faculty University of Iowa alumni