All of our personal stories are set in, and profoundly influenced by, our cultural story. However, if we were living in a different culture, such as Chinese or African, we would hold different beliefs about reality and therefore act in different ways. Countries are forced to adopt western style capitalism and join in the global marketplace. The role of government changes, as structural changes to a country's national economy occurs. The nature of human society is transformed as peoples' values, beliefs and assumptions adjust to this new social and economic reality - those that do not serve the global marketplace are marginalized.
Globalization breeds uniformity.
Storytelling challenges these assumptions that only one point of view is valid - all stories, from all cultures, are equal and valid. Many have felt that this inquiry is at the core of what makes us human. Stories certainly make us more human. Via fiction we are able to reach across the chasm between then and now, and across the space between what is and what could be. Stories enable us to imagine ourselves into other minds and souls, other cultures and genders, even other creatures and the land itself.