ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors present two extracts that explore the forms and functions of narratives across different media. The first extract is by narrative scholar Michael Toolan, who investigates what he calls the ‘political orientation of a narrative’. The second extract by media scholar Ruth Page concerns narratives in the digital world, specifically stories told by celebrities on Twitter. She shows how the affordances of Twitter are utilized to tell particular types of stories and how these stories are simply an online extension of identity work performed by celebrities offline. The stories that construct celebrity identity on Twitter are shaped by their interactive context, including the relationship between the narrator and his or her audience.
