November 26th, 2008 by Underground
Telling American Stories.
Telling American Stories is something of a side project, but it seems like the kind of thing people who are viewing this site would be interested in, so here goes.
I’ve been working on this project for the past several years, creating a workshop, an essay, and now a web site to talk about how traditional American narratives inform the frames people have about the work that many of us do, and how progressive values intersect with what many call traditional American values. I started working on Telling American Stories because I was frustrated that so many organizations and issues that I cared deeply about were being defined as somehow outside of what’s really “American.” I didn’t see anyone making the argument that I wanted to make about how progressive causes have just as much (and probably even more) right to frame their struggle in terms of our shared history as conservative ones. So I created a workshop. Then wrote it up.
If that sounds interesting, why not check it out? And then leave a comment, because I’d love to know what you think of it.
Tags: framing, narrative, tellingamericanstories
