Eric Hobsbawn, Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century argued that '...Ego is a consistently defined point of view within a context of narrative.' He further argues that narrative has been '...a requisite artefact in the construction of the modern nation state.'
Today, when we endeavour to conceive of ourselves, there are many and varied constraints. For instance, the notion I have of myself – that of a person exhibiting certain characteristics and fulfilling certain roles - is parasitic on my understanding of the selves of others. The characters I have encountered, both real and fictional, serve as models and points of reference for my own self-understanding. Such views purport that I must learn the art of story-telling before I can place myself within a narrative framework.
If we accept this, then self-knowledge is not gained by looking inward, wherever this is supposed to be, but by being able give a story or account of oneself in narrative. We can’t look inward, that would be assessing consciousness, so we must rely on narrative.
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