Three Decades of Developing, Grounding, and Using Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT)

Listening to Narratives: An Experimental Examination of Storytelling in the Classroom

“…Much in the way that communication theory development has invoked the concept of narrative, Fisher's (1984Fisher's ( , 1987 narrative paradigm argues that the need to tell stories is fundamental to the human condition, describing humans as homo narrans, "man, the narrator" (1987, p. 24). Bormann's fantasy theme analysis extends the importance of stories, anecdotes, jokes, and so forth into the realm of shared narratives (Bormann, 1993;Bormann, Cragan, & Shields, 2001). Based on this view, groups of individuals reach agreement (convergence) on a given topic through similarities in personal narratives.…”

Resisting Alienation: The Social Construction of Internet Communities Supporting Eating Disorders

“…The fantasy themes that chain out among members are created as a reasonable, creative explanation of events and experiences that may be disturbing or confusing to those outside (Bormann et al, 2001). When several fantasy themes become common a fantasy type emerges.…”

The Communication of Community Collaboration: When Rhetorical Visions Collide

“…Community coalitions are a logical addition to this list. For a more complete review of SCT-based studies, see Bormann, Cragan, and Shields (2001). The analytical method by which a critic can capture the symbolic convergence of a particular group or community is fantasy theme analysis (FTA), which is discussed in the Methods section.…”