Homo Narrans Vs. Phono Sapiens
Peter Ayolov, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”
Abstract
This article examines the contemporary shift from storytelling as a shared, dialogical practice to storyselling as a performative, market-oriented mode of self-presentation. Drawing on Byung-Chul Han’s book The Crisis of Narration, the analysis argues that narration has lost its primary social function: the creation of a common symbolic world sustained through reciprocal exchange. Traditional storytelling depended on at least two participants and unfolded as a movement back and forth, producing memory, cohesion, and future-oriented meaning. In contrast, storyselling treats narrative as a one-directional instrument for selling identity, success, or visibility, reducing listeners to passive consumers. The article situates this shift within broader transformations of digital capitalism, self-optimisation culture, and communication coaching, showing how conversational depth is replaced by predictable, strategic self-branding. The loss of genuine conversation is presented not as a stylistic problem but as a structural erosion of social bonds and shared meaning.
Comments (1)
"Smurfy"? Please enlighten me. Does it perhaps mean an extra dose of Smurfiness?