At the relational crossroads: Narrative Selection, Contamination, Biodiversity in Trans-Local Contexts

Agents act according to their knowledge of the state of the world and the relevant consequences which they may foresee, i.e. the payoffs corresponding to their choice of action. Such a pervasive representation of the world and of the position of the agents in the succession of cause-effect links is more than an aseptic information, but is rather culturally and emotionally dense. These overarching maps have been introduced in the literature as narratives, which include both the comprehension of the mechanisms of reality and the role covered in the latter by the self. Contrary to strategies and actions, narratives cannot be swiftly changed to better fit different situations and to achieve higher payoffs. We thus study what is the resulting narrative dynamics when two social groups with different “favoured” narratives interact in a Trans-Local Context. Indeed, we present the outcomes, framing them into three categories according to their interpretation in terms of narratives diffusion: Selection, Contamination, Biodiversity.