The Self and the Society: A Critique of Sociocultural Narratives in Media and Literature

Abstract

Sociocultural narratives inextricably form people’s self-identification or the identity of a group. It is essential to learn about their History through storytelling, whether from books or oral traditions. Oral traditions can be used to track the sociocultural behaviors of the past and those of the present and their rationale. Additionally, Oral Traditions help one understand and become conscious of the context around a specific practice. In sociocultural views, narrative can serve as a starting point for identifying a suitable framework for explaining how people acquire their identity by learning about History.
The media can tell societal stories through songs, movies, animations, and even other forms of storytelling. The filmmaker reveals to his audience the identity that has been forgotten or the unrecorded History behind it by making his film based on the sociocultural practices or beliefs of the specific group or individual. The present research aims to scrutinize the role of sociocultural narratives in helping individuals and groups discover their identities by illustrating the relationship between sociocultural viewpoints and oral traditions in both Literature and Media.