McCutcheon/Fabricating Origins, 6. The Origins Games

Karen de Vries proposes that we think of what Martin calls “individual readers’ sympathies” as a relationship between the origin story and the reception of that story as authoritative. Readers inclined to be persuaded by a particular version of a story are those who trust that a story (and its fabricator) conveys something they might call “the truth” or statements about the world that they consider reliable. Individuals sympathize with those they trust, and those one trusts are typically those perceived as protecting or advancing one’s interests in the game of life.