What provides the foundation for deep-level presuppositions? Scholars have offered multiple possibilities: worldview universals, interests influenced by economics, social relationships, symbols, and narrative. This article attempts to answer this question by exploring the interrelationship between ideas, interests, economics, social relationships, narrative, and symbol. I argue that symbol-based narrative serves as the lifelong, foundational conceptualization agent that allows for the (re)construction of reality and relationships. Shared symbols and stories socialize the personality within the broader communal context; they construct and reconstruct social values and social relations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BohannanPaul1995How Culture Works. New York: The Free Press.
2.
BradtKevin M.1997Story As a Way of Knowing. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward.
3.
BrunerEdward M.1984“Dialogic Narration and the Paradoxes of Masada.” In Text, Play, and Story: The Construction and Reconstruction of Self and Society. Pp. 56–79. Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association.
4.
BrunerJerome1986Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
5.
BrunerJerome1991“The Narrative Construction of Reality.”Critical Inquire18 (1): 1–21.
6.
CritesStephen1971“The Narrative Quality of Experience.”Journal of the American Academy of Religion59 (3): 291–311.
7.
CulpepperR. Alan1983Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel: A Study in Literary Design. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.
8.
DotyWilliam G.1986Mythography: The Study of Myths and Rituals. Tuscaloosa, AL: The University of Alabama Press.
9.
DouglasMary1982Natural Symbols: Explorations in Cosmology. New York: Pantheon.
10.
DouglasMary1984Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London, UK: Ark Paperbacks.
11.
FisherWalter R.1997“Narration, Reason, and Community in Memory, Identity, Community: The Idea of Narrative.” In The Human Sciences. HinchmanLewis P.HinchmanSandra K., eds. Pp. 307–327. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
12.
FrostMary1977“Inshimi and Imilumbe: Structural Expectations in Bemba Oral Imaginative Performances.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
13.
GeertzClifford1973The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
14.
HardingBarbara1968“Towards a Poetics of Fiction: An Approach through Narrative.”Novel2: 5–14.
15.
HaywardDouglas James1997Vernacular Christianity among the Mulia Dani: An Ethnography of Religious Belief Among the Western Dani of Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Lanham, MD: American Society of Missiology and University Press of America, Inc.
16.
HesselgraveDavid J.1997“Christian Contextualization and Biblical Theology.” Paper delivered at the Evangelical Missiological Society, Midwest meeting, March 14–15.
17.
HinchmanLewis P.HinchmanSandra K., eds. 1997Memory, Identity, Community: The Idea of Narrative in the Human Sciences. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
18.
HowardGeorge S.1991“A Narrative Approach to Thinking, Cross-Cultural Psychology, and Psychotherapy.”American Psychologist46 (3): 187–197.
19.
KearneyMichael1984World View. Noveto, CA: Chandler and Sharp.
20.
KraftCharles H.1979Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical Theologizing in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
21.
KraftCharles H.1996Anthropology for Christian Witness. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
22.
LingenfelterSherwood1992Transforming Culture: A Challenge for Christian Mission. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
23.
LingenfelterSherwood1996Agents of Change: A Guide for Effective Cross-Cultural Ministry. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
24.
LoewenJacob A.1974“Problems for Export: Part I.”Milligan Missiogram1 (4)[Summer]: 6–10.
25.
MacIntyreAlasdair1981After Virtue. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
26.
MairMiller1988“Psychology as Storytelling.”International Journal of Personal Construct Psychology1 (2): 125–138.
27.
McIlwainTrevor1987Building on Firm Foundations: Guidelines for Evangelism and Teaching Believers. Vol. 1. Sanford, FL: New Tribes Mission.
28.
McIlwainTrevor1988Building on Firm Foundations: Guidelines for Evangelism and Teaching Believers. Vols. 2–3. Sanford, Fl: New Tribes Mission.
29.
McIlwainTrevor1989Building on Firm Foundations: Guidelines for Evangelism and Teaching Believers. Vols. 4–6. Sanford, FL: New Tribes Mission.
30.
McIlwainTrevor1992Firm Foundations: Creation to Christ. Sanford, FL: New Tribes Mission.
RosaldoMichelle1984“Toward an Anthropology of Self and Feeling.” In Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion. SchroederR.Le VineR., eds. Pp. 137–158. New York: Cambridge University Press.
34.
RosenLawrence1984Bargaining for Reality: The Construction of Social Relations in a Muslim Community. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
35.
ShoreBradd1996Culture in Mind: Cognition, Culture, and the Problem of Meaning. New York: Oxford University Press.
36.
SteffenTom A.1996Reconnecting God's Story to Ministry: Cross-Cultural Storytelling at Home and Abroad. La Habra, CA: Center for Organizational & Ministry Development.
37.
SteffenTom A.1997aPassing the Baton: Church Planting That Empowers. La Habra, CA: Center for Organizational & Ministry Development.
38.
SteffenTom A.1997b“Reaching Resistant People through Intentional Narrative.” Paper delivered at the Evangelical Missiological Society, Southwest Region meeting, April 4.
39.
SteffenTom A.1997c“Socialization among the Ifugao: Guidelines for Curriculum Development.”International Journal of Frontier Missions14 (4): 191–197.
40.
TurnerVictor1967The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
41.
TurnerVictor1974Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
42.
TwainMark1946The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. New York: Grosset and Dunlap Publishers.
43.
WhiteLeslie A.1949The Science of Culture: A Study of Man and Civilization. New York: Grove Press, Inc.
44.
WildavskyAaron1984The Nursing Father: Moses as Political Leader. Tuscaloosa AL: The University of Alabama Press.
45.
ZahniserA. H. Mathias1997Symbol and Ceremony: Making Disciples across Cultures. Monrovia, CA: MARC.
