Metanarrative

In social theory, a metanarrative (also master narrative, or meta-narrative and grand narrative; French: métarécit or grand récit) is an overarching narrative about smaller historical narratives, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (as yet unrealized) master idea. The term was popularized by the writing of French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard in 1979. Metanarrative is considered a foundational concept of postmodernism.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Master narrative and synonymous terms like metanarrative are also used in narratology to mean "stories within stories," as coined by literary theorist Gérard Genette.^[4]

Examples of master narratives can be found in U.S. high school textbooks according to scholar Derrick Alridge: "history courses and curricula are dominated by such heroic and celebratory master narratives as those portraying George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as the heroic 'Founding Fathers,' Abraham Lincoln as the 'Great Emancipator,' and Martin Luther King, Jr., as the messianic savior of African Americans."^[5]

^ J. Childers/G. Hentzi eds., The Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism (1995) p. 186
^ R. Appignanesi/C. Garratt, Postmodernism for Beginners (1995) pp. 102–3
^ Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Explained to Children (1992) p. 29
^ ^a ^b "Master Narrative". The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory. Vol. II, Literary Theory from 1966 to the Present: A-Z. Wiley. 2010-12-24. doi:10.1002/9781444337839.wbelctv2m003. ISBN 978-1-4051-8312-3.
^ * Alridge, Derrick P. (2006). "The Limits of Master Narratives in History Textbooks: An Analysis of Representations of Martin Luther King, Jr". Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education. 108 (4): 662–686. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00664.x. ISSN 0161-4681.

[1] J. Childers/G. Hentzi eds., The Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism (1995) p. 186

[2] R. Appignanesi/C. Garratt, Postmodernism for Beginners (1995) pp. 102–3

[3] Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Explained to Children (1992) p. 29

[Wiley-4] "Master Narrative". The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory. Vol. II, Literary Theory from 1966 to the Present: A-Z. Wiley. 2010-12-24. doi:10.1002/9781444337839.wbelctv2m003. ISBN 978-1-4051-8312-3.

[5] * Alridge, Derrick P. (2006). "The Limits of Master Narratives in History Textbooks: An Analysis of Representations of Martin Luther King, Jr". Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education. 108 (4): 662–686. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00664.x. ISSN 0161-4681.

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