The World Trade Center Site: Who Won? Fisher's Narrative Paradigm and Conflicting Narratives in the Analysis of the World Trade Center Site Controversy

Abstract

The controversy over the World Trade Center site was examined. Using Foss’ comprehensive examination of the narrative and Fisher’s narrative paradigm fifty-six articles from The New York Times were examined for the narrative fidelity and narrative probability of the two main narratives, the right to mourn and the right to renew. The analysis found that the two main narratives were in confliction. Consequently, the right to renew narrative proved more dominant than the right to mourn narrative. Overall, the analysis found that the constant confliction of the two narratives was a significant factor in the delaying of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site.