Narrative And Moral Meaning

Most accounts of narrativeassume that moralmeaning only results from some coherent narratives, and that the author can chose whether or not his story has moralmeaning. I am using ‘ moral’ in the widest sense, to cover what is of value and how we should live, not just specific doctrines about moral obligation. I will argue that moralmeaning is a necessary feature of ALL coherent narrative, The thesis is based in the concept of Protagonal Volition - i.e. that the protagonist/s in a dramatic narrativemake choices, moralchoices, (i.e. choices between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ actions) and the results of these choices (chosen by the author) are what gives the narrativeits meaning and that because of the moralnature of these choices, the meaning of the narrativeis necessarily moral. The paper will explore ideas from various disciplines including, Ethical and Moral Philosophy, Social History, Sociology, Social Psychology, Anthropology, Aesthetics and Literary Theory. If proven the thesis has potentially important implications for both the perception of dramatic narrativeas a cultural and social force and the status of dramatic narrativewithin the political, ethical, moraland aesthetic discourse of Western post-industrial societies.