Narrative Theory Of A Single Story

1) A single story is defined by Ngozi Adichie as “showing people one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become” (Adichie). She defined the single story in a TED Talk in 2009. During Adichie's talk, she explained how she was embarrassed of herself and her single story understanding of Mexican culture and people based solely on her experiences with American media and political coverage of Mexico. She had stereotyped the Mexican culture because the only story she had heard were negative representations of a impoverished people. Adichie exclusively categorized immigrants as Mexican, despite herself being an immigrant into America. However, only once she was presented with a different narrative; a narrative

The second core media theory is the “Social Learning Theory,” which emphasizes learning through observation and stories, but not necessarily limiting it to first hand experiences. The third core media theory is the “Cultivation Theory,” which defines the ‘full truth’ as our experiences that we are exposed to over time. Together these theories focus on different parts of popular culture that shapes our understanding of the world around us and creates the stories within our lives. The first theory states that the stories within our culture create a universal understanding. This theory is in line with the duality myth. Disney Princesses are cultural icons that shaped whole generations and created a connection between everyone who watched them. However, over time the definition of a Disney Princess has shifted to include those of ethnic backgrounds that are not dependent on their prince but are making mistakes and learning from them, such as in the movie Brave where Merida turns her family into bears and has to come to terms with her own flaws to reunite her family. The second theory states that we learn through observations and storytelling. Fables are considered warning stories for children; “Little Red Riding Hood” conveys the dangers of talking to strangers. The third theory is in line with the single story since to states that the stories told overtime become our full truth. From a young age, American children are taught that the origin of Thanksgiving is rooted in peace between the Native Americans and Pilgrims, when in reality the history between the two groups is much darker and full of cultural genocide. In fact, Thanksgiving was proclaimed to “celebrate the safe return of a band of heavily armed hunters [who]... returned from Connecticut where they massacred 700 Pequot Indians”