Metanarrative Quotes

“Do you know what happened to her already? Did you catch it in the papers? Are you local? Did you know her? Did you see it on the internet? Did some website the trawls local news for the worst details of true crimes bring her to your attention? Did you see the article about her, buried in the chum box of an already disreputable website? Did you see the red-headed stock image model juxtaposed against an edited charred corpse, captioned, "You won't believe what they did to her?" Did you listen to a podcast? Did the hosts make jokes? Do you have a dark sense of humour? Did that make it okay? Or were they sensitive about it? Did they coo in the right places? Did they give you a content warning? Did you skip ahead? Did you see pictures? Did you look for them?”
― Eliza Clark, Penance

“By calling into question the very ideal of a universal, autonomous reason (which was, in the Enlightenment, the basis for rejecting religious thought) and further demonstrating that all knowledge is grounded in narrative or myth, Lyotard relativizes (secular) philosophy's claim to autonomy and so grants the legitimacy of a philosophy that grounds itself in Christian faith. Previously such a distinctly Christian philosophy would have been exiled from the 'pure' arena of philosophy because of its 'infection' with bias and prejudice. Lyotard's critique, however, demonstrates that no philosophy - indeed, no knowledge - is untainted by prejudice or faith commitments. In this way the playing field is leveled, and new opportunities to voice a Christian philosophy are created. Thus Lyotard's postmodern critique of metanarratives, rather than being a formidable foe of Christian faith and thought, can in fact be enlisted as an ally in the construction of a Christian philosophy.”
― James K.A. Smith, Who's Afraid of Postmodernism?: Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Foucault to Church

“She spun the car through a right turn that would have killed us all had we been minor characters.”
― Daniel Handler, The Basic Eight

“…the narratives we tell to justify a single set of laws and stakes are inherently unjust.”
― James Williams, Key Contemporary Social Theorists

“JADE: picture that this is all you have ever known of this story. the only way it would ever occur to you that the story could be understood by another.

JADE: and then, one day, you meet me.

JADE: you look me up and down, and regard me as the discrete, specific individual that i am.

JADE: and i decide to tell you this story again, using my own voice.

JADE: and it sounds exactly like this:

JADE: a martyr died and said fuck.

ARADIA: huh...

JADE: does this change the way you perceive the story you were originally familiar with?

ARADIA: i guess a little bit

ARADIA: it’s certainly a different way of hearing it

ARADIA: but at least you didnt change any words so i guess its not all that different

JADE: exactly.

JADE: i didn’t change any words.

JADE: but then, it was a very short story i told, wasn’t it?

ARADIA: sure was

JADE: now imagine it was much longer, and that was only the first line.

ARADIA: thats easy to imagine

ARADIA: his was a long story

JADE: quite true.

JADE: a story as short as the one we’ve been using cannot accomplish much when it comes to guiding and manipulating one’s awareness and emotions.

JADE: it is compact, ostensibly commanding a simple and meditative moment of reflection, as a short poem might.

JADE: the narrative it delivers is freighted with inference. it is a pattern imprinted upon the imagination consisting solely of cognitive dark matter, or a sort of notional negative space.

JADE: but longer stories have the power to draw consciousness into them. they possess arresting and hypnotic qualities which can be used by their tellers to alter the awareness of the listener.

JADE: again, i’d like you to imagine this is the only way you’ve ever known this story.

JADE: but then it continues...

JADE: a martyr died and said fuck.

JADE: his final howl of profanity reverberated through the ages.

JADE: it inspired his devotees during the darkest times of a brutal regime.

JADE: his lessons were guarded, kept secret, espoused in the shadows of tyranny.

JADE: a vision of peace would inspire those who’d never conceived of it.

JADE: and though his death was gruesome, it opened the world to a feeling of hope.

JADE: this hope echoed through the ages.

JADE: it gave his disciples the strength to persist as they perished in droves.

JADE: it was the only light to shine on a dark planet for millions of sweeps.

JADE: and if you are one so devoted to his teachings, who sees truth in his words,

JADE: it may be said with great authority that you are wrong.

JADE: you are foolish to believe his lies. his martyrdom is false, his sacrifice hollow.

JADE: repent for your adherence to this illusion now, and perhaps leniency will be your reward.

ARADIA: 0_0

ARADIA: what just happened there

JADE: i brought to your attention that the story you were listening to had a speaker with a specific identity.

JADE: and where there is an identity, there can also be an agenda.

JADE: i gained the power to bend your consciousness to become more amenable to my narrative agenda by lulling you into a more receptive state through the established rhythm of the story’s telling.

JADE: this was only possible because you were not initially questioning the identity of the teller, or even considering that there was an identity to consider.

ARADIA: i guess youre right

JADE: hence, we may view any story as speakerless, or spoken, so as to bring designations to the duality i have just presented.”
― Andrew Hussie