My own interest in stories derives from a dissatisfaction with the standard logic-based models of knowledge that one finds in the more formal branches of AI and related fields. I thought stories could make a better basis for a theory of mind and memory.

So, here's what I consider to be the salient characteristics of stories, from this cognitive perspective:

• Concrete: they deal with specific people, things, and events, rather than abstract concepts.
• Temporal: stories consist of events unfolding in time
• Purposeful: stories usually deal with agents who have goals that they try to realize, obstacles or conflicts they encounter, and (sometimes) solutions or resolutions

It's also interesting to think about this in light of Ong's work. Stories are the basis of oral culture, whereas the more abstract forms of knowledge only come into being with the invention of writing and print.