Research Area 2: Cultural Narratologies
Focussing on the interplay between culture and narration and drawing on key concepts of narrative theory, research in this area explores the role of narratives in cultural meaning-making, the cultural work that they do, and the question of how far the forms and functions of storytelling are culture-specific and subject to historical change. The umbrella term ‘cultural narratologies’ subsumes recent international research in a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from narrativistic theories of history (H. White), the anthropological notion of ‘writing culture’ (J. Clifford) and narrative psychology (J. Bruner) to feminist, postcolonial, cognitive and transmedial narratologies (M.L. Ryan, D. Herman) in literary studies.
Research Area 2: Cultural Narratologies
Research Area 2 "Cultural Narratologies" explores how narration shapes the cultures and the world versions we know.
Narratives are contingent upon the cultures from which they emerge. This, in turn, lends them their colourful particularity in the form of idiosyncratic characters, topics, plots, and styles. Cultural Narratologies, consequently, means the study of those particularities, and of the practices and modes of story-telling, whether fictional or factual. Often fatefully, narratives can decide between war and peace, veneration and vilification, which values we hold dear and what futures we dread. This Research Area thus explores how stories are told: how they are created or erased, made famous or forgotten, bought or sold, broken or repaired, fashioned as truth or debunked as lies.
Active Members
- Stefano Rozzoni
- Edward Djordjevic
- Vira Sachenko
- Lukas Helbich
- Clara Verri
- Candace Goodrich
- Ruth Manstetten
- Richard Damian Vargas López
- Maaike Hommes
- Jaqueline Winkel
- Sijie Wang
- Robin Schmieder
- Tobias Schädel
- Edith Ruvalcaba Galindo
- Jennifer Kappe
- Juulia Jaulimo
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David E. Susa
- Juan Camilo Brigard
-
Herman Steve Peumadji Seukdeu
- Zahra Vodjgani
- Dr. Imke Polland-Schmandt
Contact
If you are interested in joining us, please get in touch with our speakers and sign up for our newsletter and reminder e-mails:
- Meike Wiegand (Meike.Wiegand)
- Robin Schmieder (Robin.Schmieder@gcsc.uni-giessen.de)
Past Events
2017:
- January 24: Keynote Lecture with Albrecht Koschorke: "Stories and Decisions. Toward a Theory of Factual Narratives"
- January 25: Anniversary Workshop with Albrecht Koschorke: "We Are the People and I Am Speaking on Behalf of You: Populist Narratives and Democratic Representation"
- April 20/21: Conference: "Realms of Royalty: New Directions in Researching Contemporary European Monarchies"
- May 23: Workshop with Felicitas Meifert-Menhard: "Narrative Futures, Future Narratives: The Story Depends on Your Perspective"
- June 20/21: Symposium: "Literature and Institutions"
- June 29 to July 1: Conference: "Online Vitriol: Advocacy, Violence, and the Transforming Power of Social Media"
- November 14/15: Workshop "Challenging Concepts of Broken and Unnatural Narratives" with Stefan Iversen and Jan Alber
- November 14: Keynote Lecture with Stefan Iversen: "Strange Narratives in Rhetorical Discourse"
- November 15: Master Class with Stefan Iversen: "Broken Narratives: The Works of Joshua Oppenheimer"
2016:
- July 5: Keynote Lecture with Birgit Neumann: "Pushing Narrative to its Limits: Ekphrasis and Visuality in Teju Cole's Fiction"
- July 6: Workshop with Birgit Neumann: "New Directions in the Study of Culture and Narration: Verbal-Visual Configurations in Contemporary Anglophone Fiction"
2015:
- June 11: Deathbook. Der Thriller 3.0. Multimediale Autorenlesung mit Podiumsdiskussion zur Zukunft des Lesens mit Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hallet, Dr. Uwe Naumann, Andreas Winkelmann, Ute Nöth, Nicole Wiesmann.
2014:
- November 11: Master Class with Jessica Pressman: “Bookishness in Post-Print Literature” and Keynote Lecture: “Bookishness: The Afterlife of the Book in Digital Literary Culture”
2013:
- May 14: Master Class with Brian Richardson: “Unnatural Narratives: Transcending the Conventional, Writing the Unspeakable”
- July 3: Master Class with Richard Walsh: “Story and World: Robbe-Grillet’s Jealousy”
- August 5: Keynote Lecture with Richard Walsh: “Narrating Complexity: The Antipathy of Stories and Systems“
2012:
- January 24: Research Area Meeting with Doris Bachmann-Medick on "The Spatial Turn in Cultural Studies: An Introduction" and project presentations
- May 7: Master Class with Henry Jenkins: "How Content Gains Meaning and Value in the Era of Spreadable Media"
- May 24: Workshop with Bettina Hagen: "Storytelling als Methode in Marketing und PR"
2011:
- March 1: Workshop “Narratologie des Raumes” with Katrin Dennerlein from Julius-Maximilains-Universität Würzburg (cooperative project of RA 2 and “AG Konzepte und Funktionen des Raumes”
- May: Cooperative Workshop about autobiography with graduate students from the Life-Writing Kolleg in Mainz
- May 4-6: Conference about narrative genre in new media. Cooperative project of RA 2 and the LOEWE-Kulturtechniken, sub-project
- June 8: Workshop "Possible Worlds Theory and Transmedial Narratology" with Marie-Laure Ryan