In Other Words: Crafting Fiction to Understand Theory
Abstract
Fiction is an underappreciated tool for learning in defense analysis. Reading and writing fiction built on academic theory and models in defense analysis could help strengthen students' understanding of the motivations of people on both sides of conflicts. This capstone project breaks ground by showing how short stories can be written over the framework of established theory related to terrorism and how those fictional narratives can increase students' comprehension of select theories. This paper also shows how writing and analyzing these stories can help students conceptualize the thought processes of the people in real-world situations related to the theories depicted. By examining four pieces of acclaimed fiction that engage the reader in topics related to defense analysis, the project identifies techniques used by authors to relay their messages. Using similar techniques, this project's author constructs four stories based on terrorist radicalization, coercion theory, theory of special operations, and terrorist deradicalization. Read individually, the stories can strengthen comprehension of their respective parent theory or model and, if read in sequence, can clarify the connections between various topics and models in defense analysis. The project provides practical guidance on the use of fiction to strengthen students' comprehension of theory and models in defense analysis and encourages its expanded use in the Naval Postgraduate School's curriculum.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1173434
Entities
People
- Nikolaj Lindberg
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School