How do books, movies and advertising shape our reality?

Narrative, a concept from history, blends setting, events that reshape the world, and characters. These characters live through these events and give them meaning. A narrative reveals how outside forces change both the world and people. It does this by focusing on a hero's or narrator's personal story.

Narratives are everywhere. We see them in childhood fairy tales and ads that try to sell us things. They appear in books, movies, politics, marketing, and sports. Even crisis communications uses narratives to influence what people think. Politicians often tell stories about fighting for what's right or protecting old values to gain support.

Narratives have a long history. They started long ago when people shared stories around fires. In the Middle Ages, stories taught lessons. Dante's Divine Comedy mixed an exciting story with lessons about morals and religion. Later, narratives spread ideas. Voltaire used stories to criticize society in Candide.

In the 20th century, film and TV changed storytelling with visual elements. The 21st century has adapted narratives to video games and other interactive platforms.

Stories passed down by word of mouth, like fairy tales, often change to fit their audience. Cinderella, for example, has many versions worldwide. Each version shows different cultural values. In some, the heroine overcomes problems without help. This shows how stories reflect what a society believes is important.

In books, narratives create whole worlds. We see heroes in big historical stories. Tolstoy's War and Peace follows many characters, their loves, and their struggles during big changes.