KL: Albrecht Koschorke: Stories and Decisions. Toward a Theory of Factual Narratives

In my lecture, I want to explore the collaborative effects of storytelling, sensemaking, and decision-taking. My starting point is the assumption that social processes are determined by a general tendency to minimize effort through the limitation of attention, time, cognitive and semantic energy. Only in certain cases should they reach the level of meaningful action. And only particularly demanding meaningful actions require narrative support. The basic function of social narratives consists in the framing and closure of contentious situations. However, there are situations in which a moment of crisis does not simply allow itself to be narratively encapsulated but requires an act of decision. This raises the question of how decisions are dealt with on the level of storytelling—both in terms of preparating and reworking the turning point of decision itself.

  With this line of thought, I try to combine the analysis of storytelling in everyday life with results from cognitive theory and theories of organization—as a possible (and hopefully plausible) “new direction in the study of culture.”

// Prof. Dr. Albrecht Koschorke (University of Konstanz, DE)