Homo narrare. Narrative Intelligence 3.0: Managing Reality and Influencing People. Arsen Avetisov

theory – can employ a wide range of techniques and provocations. In a narrative, everything lies in the hands of the author. They can highlight the fictional nature of the story or, conversely, its authenticity. They might present the same events – or the entire story – from completely opposing perspectives. The author may position themselves as a witness to events, a character in the story, or adopt a detached, abstract tone.

      A narrator can express an individual, emotional perspective, offering their evaluative viewpoint as the story’s author. Alternatively, they might conceal this viewpoint within the narrative’s subtleties – its perspectives and underlying meanings.

      A narrator might even intentionally marginalize themselves, reject authorship, or distance themselves from the story to avoid revealing their own stance. They could play with the narrative through irony, humor, absurdity, or even discredit the story being told. The possibilities are so vast that it becomes challenging to determine how closely the actual author aligns with the language of the narrative.

      Creating stories has always been akin to «crafting another reality,» a new model of the world. Narration is not merely a description of this model but a kind of manual explaining it and showing how to act within it. Imagine you are explaining the rules of a game. In doing so, you create an illusion of the game itself. This illusion inevitably includes the person learning the rules and the players acting in near-realistic conditions. Narratives function similarly.

      Through storytelling, we construct an even greater illusion, one indistinguishable from reality. To hold the audience’s interest, a series of events is transformed into an engaging and instructive narrative. The appeal of the plot comes not only from its events but also from the emotions and experiences of the characters. These experiences can become so vivid that they are depicted as full scenes, conveyed without words – like the performances of skilled actors whose meaningful pauses speak louder than monologues.