Schematic Narrative Templates Research Articles

Schematic narrative templates in national remembering

James V. Wertsch coined the concept of schematic narrative template in his Voices of Collective Remembering, which has become a classic work in memory studies. The central argument of this article is that the analytical power of the concept of schematic narrative template can be increased, and its methodological implications clarified, by making a distinction between plot structures, narrative schemata, and the practices of narrative production, dissemination, and consumption. The article demonstrates that these entities and their associated mechanisms and processes are different in kind and should therefore be studied by using different types of methods. Furthermore, the article elaborates on the cognitive aspects of Wertsch’s notion of schematic narrative template by distinguishing between the pattern completion and pattern matching functions of narrative schemata as well as between the cognitive processes of assimilation and accommodation of narrative schemata.

An ideational level of Ukrainian counterpropaganda: the communicative-discursive dimension

The article reveals Ukrainian counterpropaganda ideational structures against Russian propaganda during an active phase of the hybrid war. The purpose of the research is to identify the Ukrainian counterpropaganda tools to debunk mythologemes and ideologemes of Russian narrative. The article uses the narrative-discursive analysis method to identify some narrative models of conceptualizing the war as variants of "Tales of the Just War" constructing the schematic narrative templates; structural-semantic modeling and the method of reconstruction of manipulative meanings known as the simulacrum. The main conclusions are that counterpropaganda operates with discourse-forming concepts, mythologemes and ideologemes by means of de-mythologizing, anti-mythologizing and revealing the contradictions of Russian narrative integrated with concepts-ideas of self-defense, messianism and reunification. Demythologization relies on some national narratives, symbols, and archetypes from the memory fields of the Ukrainians and aims at counteracting Russian mythologemes in oppositions: a pseudo-nation and pseudo-state vs. a full-fledged national identity and statehood; a tool of the West vs. people of Western culture; Russia as a liberator of the Ukrainians vs. a liberation struggle of the Ukrainians against Russian aggression. Anti-mythologizing relies on current facts and events that refute propagandist ideologemes, restore a distorted "possible world" and the roles reversed by Russian propaganda.

Attitudes shape implicit temporal trajectories: A quantitative test of the narrative structure of collective memories of colonialism

This article investigates how Belgian participants’ implicit temporal trajectories regarding the history of Belgian colonialism in the Congo vary as a function of their attitudes towards colonialism and thus create different collective memories. We reasoned that, depending on their attitudes towards Belgian colonialism, individuals may draw on different schematic narrative templates to structure their own implicit temporal trajectory of colonial history. Consequently, we predicted that the shape of individual implicit temporal trajectories should vary according to their attitudes. Specifically, we expected that positive attitudes towards colonialism would be associated with implicit temporal trajectories in which the colonial period is seen as more positive than before and after colonialism, creating an inverted U-shaped implicit temporal trajectory, while negative attitudes towards colonialism should be associated with the opposite trend – U-shaped implicit trajectories. We measured the attitudes towards colonialism of Belgian participants (n = 129), then their social representations of three historical periods: before, during and after Belgian colonialism. Overall, results supported these hypotheses. This study complements previous narrative psychology investigations by bringing quantitative evidence according to which collective memories are structured as implicit temporal trajectories that are in line with people’s attitudes.

Examining three narratives of U.S. history in the historical perspectives of middle school (emergent) bilingual students

This study examined the historical perspectives of eleven emergent bilingual and bilingual students at two middle schools. Data analysis revealed that the participants’ perspectives on U.S. history reflected three schematic narrative templates focused on nation-building, equality, and discrimination. The participants primarily employed the (in)equality narratives when discussing aspects of U.S. history directly linked to their identities. The findings add to the extant research on student historical perspectives and use of schematic narrative templates. The findings further suggest that engaging (emergent) bilingual students in examining multiple perspectives and conducting critical history inquiry can contribute to notions of culturally and linguistically responsive social studies instruction.

Identidad y alteridad en libros de texto escolares: un estudio de caso sobre la representación de Al-Andalus

El nacionalismo, y la construcción social de la identidad nacional, implica una ideología de la primera persona del plural, donde no puede haber un nosotros sin un ellos. En este artículo se analizan las formas de producción de alteridad —entendida como la otra cara de la identidad— articuladas en la representación de Al-Andalus en un libro de texto de Ciencias Sociales, utilizado en un centro de enseñanza secundaria de la Comunidad de Madrid, España. Partiendo del concepto de ʻschematic narrative templatesʼ, el objetivo es examinar en qué medida la enseñanza de Al-Andalus sigue promoviendo una narrativa con fuerte arraigo en la memoria colectiva y el modo de entender la identidad española en unas aulas con estudiantes procedentes de diversos contextos nacionales y religiosos. Los resultados muestran cómo el término “Reconquista” sigue apareciendo, en ocasiones, como un hito en el relato, proyectando una cierta continuidad histórica entre los grupos de pobladores cristianos que lucharon contra los musulmanes y los españoles actuales. Por su parte, el pasado musulmán de la Península Ibérica sigue representándose en clave de alteridad, ya sea en términos negativos como “otro-exótico-amenazante” o positivos como “otro-exótico-admirable”. El artículo concluye con algunas reflexiones sobre la enseñanza de la historia en aulas cada vez más multiculturales.

Un outil narratif pour une meilleure intégration de la minorité anglophone du Québec dans l’enseignement de l’histoire

his article explores the idea of a narrative tool designed to help make room for Québec’s English-speaking minority in the teaching of school history. Based on a conceptualization of historical consciousness and its links to the notion of schematic narrative templates, the tool functions as a springboard for helping English speaking youth develop personal narratives of belonging in well informed and well reasoned ways for the purposes of integrating and vitalizing the community. Empirical data on community leaders’ historical memories help frame the contours of this schematic-like template.

A national hero or a Wily Politician? Students’ ideas about the origins of the nation in Sweden

ABSTRACTThe topic of this article is how primary school students express ideas about the ‘origins of the nation’. The study is based on texts written by Swedish students aged 12–13 about a historical event well embedded in Swedish national mythology, the rise to power of Swedish ‘founding father’ Gustav Vasa. The analysis is inspired by James V. Wertsch's concept of schematic narrative templates. The main finding of the study is that the students mainly structure their answers along one of two different narrative templates; either a kind of historical master narrative with strong foundations in traditional Swedish history culture, or a more generic story about the founding father as a ruthless or corrupt politician, which is arguably influenced by presentism.

How to Construct a Common Narrative from among the Competing Accounts: Narrative templates as cultural limiters to narrative transformations

Narrative approach to interethnic conflicts considers them as competing stories. In this con-nection, it is argued that for effective conflict resolution the competing narratives should un-dergo certain transformations that could bring them towards their convergence into a common one. However, discussions of narrative transformations to conflict resolution often fail to differentiate between surface narratives and underlying schematic narrative templates. In this regard schematic narrative templates which are deeply entrenched with patterns of collective memory and identity can serve as “cultural limiter” which restrains the process of narrative transformations. This thesis is illustrated through the narrative analysis of the BBC Russian Service video report “Karabakh: Two Versions of the Story” (aired on 18th April, 2011). In the analysis of the BBC video report the author employs some procedures which are suggested by the model of “chronotopic” method.

Misremembering as Mediated Action: Schematic Narrative Templates and Elementary Students' Narration of the Past

The purpose of this article is to explore three fifth grade students' misremembering of the beginnings of American history as a form of mediated action, active agents using cultural tools provided by a sociocultural setting to represent and interpret the past (Wertsch, 2000). Data come from a 10-month qualitative case study of history instruction in one fourth grade and two fifth grade classrooms, and include student interviews, videotaped observations of lessons, and curricular materials and student work. Drawing on Wertsch's (2002, 2004) distinction between specific narratives and schematic narrative templates, the author argues that three fifth grade students' mistaken narration of the beginnings of American history was informed by their use of a schematic narrative template that was present in the enacted curriculum. The author concludes the article with a discussion of the implications of the presence of this cultural tool and its use by students for the teaching of history and students' development of a usable historical past.

Blank Spots in Collective Memory: A Case Study of Russia

The dynamics of collective remembering are examined by analyzing what happens when a “blank spot” in history is filled with information that had previously not been available or publicly acknowledged. Taking Russian accounts of the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 as a case study, it is argued that “schematic narrative templates” that shape deep collective memory give rise to a tendency to maintain this memory and help it overcome the “narrative rift” that occurs when embarrassing episodes from the past are publicly acknowledged. Schematic narrative templates are set forth as underlying strong conservative forces that resist change in collective memory at a deep level. It is suggested that debates grounded in formal history may help overcome this resistance to change but that such efforts will be limited as long as the forces of deep collective memory are not recognized.

The Narrative Organization of Collective Memory

AbstractCollective memory is analyzed from the perspective of narrative organization. Specifically, narratives provided by a sociocultural context, especially the modern state, are examined in their capacity to serve as cultural tools for members of a collective as they recount the past. The power of these tools to shape collective remembering is examined with the help of a distinction between specific narratives and schematic narrative templates. The former include information about specific dates, places, actors, and so forth, whereas the latter are abstract forms of narrative representation and typically shape several specific narratives. The utility of these notions is assessed by examining the “expulsion‐of‐foreign‐enemies” schematic narrative template that shapes much of Russian collective memory, both during the Soviet period and post‐Soviet periods. [collective memory, narrative, schematic narrative template, Russia]

National narratives and the conservative nature of collective memory

Using the Russian experience in World War II as an illustration, this article explores some dynamics of collective memory, especially when state authorities seek to employ a particular usable past. Posters, films, and other forms of popular culture are analyzed in an attempt to account for a sudden switch in official Soviet memory during the early phases of World War II. In this context the Soviet leadership reverted to relying on old Russian national narratives after spending years forcibly promulgating an internationalist, anti-nationalist official story. Along with other post-Soviet experience, this suggests that national narratives can be quite conservative and resistant to change. The notion of “schematic narrative templates” is employed to provide insight into how this played out in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia in general, with specific attention given to the “expulsion of foreign enemies” narrative template.

Theorizing Historical Consciousness

* Peter Seixas: Introduction. I. Historiographies and Historical Consciousness. * Chris Lorenz, Professor of Philosophy and Medothology of History, Leiden University and Free University of Amsterdam. 'Towards A Theoretical Framework For Comparing Historiographies: Some Preliminary Considerations'* James Wertsch, Department of Education, Washington University, St. Louis. 'Specific Narratives and Schematic Narrative Templates'* Jorn Riisen, Institute for the Advanced Studies of the Humanitiies, Essex. 'What Is Historical Consciousness? A Theoretical Approach To Empirical Evidence'* Mark Phillips, Department of History, Universtiy of British Columbia. 'Historical Distance: An Introduction'* II. History Education and Historical Consciousness * Jocelyn Letourneau and Sabrina Moisan, Department of History, Laval University, Quebec. 'Young People's Assimilation of a Collective Historical Memory'* Peter Lee, University of London Institute of Education. 'Understanding History'* Christian Laville. 'Historical Consciousness and History Education: What To Expect from the First for the Second'* Roger Simon, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. 'The Pedagogical Insistence of Public Memory'* Kent den Heyer (ed.). 'A Dialogue on Narrative and Historical Consciousness'* III. The Politics of Memory and History Education * Tony Taylor, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Victoria, Australia. 'Disputed Territory: Some Political Contexts for the Development of Australian Historical Consciousness'* John Torpey, Departments of Sociology and History, University of British Columbia. 'The Pursuit of the Past: A Polemical Perspective'