Critical Research
Narratology Books | Academic Journal Articles | Research Reports | Critical Commentary
Story-critical Research
The storytelling boom has generated countless texts for narratologists to study — from fundraising emails, to social media and political campaign communication — and a “story-critical” approach to the storytelling boom has emerged.
Academic Research
Brooks, Peter. Seduced by Story: the Use and Abuse of Narrative, 2022.
Fernandes, Sujatha, Curated Stories: The Uses and Misuses of Storytelling, 2017.
Polletta, Francesca. It Was Like a Fever: Storytelling in Protest and Politics, 2006.
Polletta, Francesca, Tania DoCarmo, Kelly Marie Ward and Jessica Callahan, Personal Storytelling in Professionalized Social Movements, Mobilization: An International Quarterly, Volume 26, Issue 1, 2021.
Macrae, Andrea. Small Stories in Charity Fundraising Letters and the Ethics of Interwoven Individualism, Poetics Today, Volume 43, Issue 2, June 2022.
Mäkelä, Maria, Samuli Björninen, Laura Karttunen, Matias Nurminen, Juha Raipola and Tytti Rantanen. Dangers of Narrative: A Critical Approach to Narratives of Personal Experience in Contemporary Story Economy, Narrative, Volume 29, Issue 2, May 2021.
Mäkelä, Maria and Hanna Meretoja. Critical Approaches to the Storytelling Boom, Poetics Today, Volume 43, Issue 2, June 2022.
Meretoja, Hanna. The Ethics of Storytelling, 2018.
Meretoja, Hanna and Mark Freeman (Eds). The Use and Abuse of Stories, 2023.
Salmon, Christian. Storytelling: Bewitching the Modern Mind, 2007.
Santos, Pablo Victor Fontes, Victoria Motta de Lamare França, Cristina Rego Monteiro da Luz, Mônica Leite Lessa, Humanization, Dehumanization, and Spectacularization: The Semiotics of UNICEF’s Unfairy Tales, International Political Sociology, Volume 19, Issue 1, March 2025.
Shuman, Amy, Other People's Stories: Entitlement Claims and the Critique of Empathy, 2010.
Squire, Corinne (Ed), Stories Changing Lives: Narratives and Paths toward Social Change, 2021.
Willett, Ashlan S., Aaron Levy and Rita Charon. For Clinicians Who Write Essays About Patients: Conceptual Review of Consent and Ethical Considerations, Journal of General Internal Medicine, Volume 41, 2026.
Industry Research
A critical analysis of charity advertising in the UK
Charity Advertising, 2026.
Impact Storytelling: the Ecosystem, the Evidence and Possible Futures
UAL AKO Storytelling Institute, May 2024.
Better Conversations About Ethical Storytelling
M&C Saatchi World Services, August 2023.
Rethink Reframe Redefine: Co-Creation and Storytelling: Testing the Contributor-Centered Storytelling methodology with UNHCR
Jess Crombie Consultancy, 2024.
The People in the Pictures: Vital perspectives on Save the Children’s image making
Save the Children, 2017.
Critical Commentary
2023, Jan. 23. “Is poverty porn over? Towards a new era of fundraising campaigns”, Eye on Global Health.
2018, Jan. 12. “Yes, charities want to make an impact. But poverty porn is not the way to do it”, The Guardian.
2015, Sept. 30. At What Point Does A Fundraising Ad Go Too Far?, NPR.