Research Area 2: Cultural Narratologies
Cultural Narratologies is concerned with how narratives, whether fictional or factual, are employed in constructing versions of the world and their ideological implications. This focus has become especially relevant since the "narrative turn" in the humanities, which extended the concept's use, objectives, and meaning across many disciplines. These endeavours are guided by key questions: What is a narrative? How do narratives function? What are the different affordances of fictional and factual narratives? And how can the study of narrative help us understand and conceptualise the world?
Research Area 2 studies the processes that shape and produce narratives, highlighting their role as tools for cultural analysis. It explores key cultural, social, medial, and historical contexts through several current debates, including applied narratology, transmedial narratology, political narratives, cognitive narratology, AI and narrative, econarratology, and computational narrative analysis.
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:
Caesy Stuck – caesy.stuck@gcsc.uni-giessen.de
Upcoming Events (Details in the GGK/GCSC Calendar)
- Keynote "Pseudo-Stories & Neonarratives. Intersections of Narratives & Statistics" by Prof. Daniel Newman (University of Toronto), 21 April 2026
- Masterclass "Beyond Solitary Genius: Scholarly Writing as a Social Practice" by Prof. Daniel Newman (University of Toronto), 22 April 2026
- Guest Lecture "Beyond Estrangement: Toward A Reader-Oriented Theory of Science and Speculative Fiction" by Dr Ciarán Kavanagh, May 2026
- International Summer Workshop “The Ethics of Storytelling,” 20-23 July 2026
Past Events
- GCSC Conference “Cognition, Culture, Narrative,” 6–8 December 2023
- Begleitveranstaltung GCSC Keynote Lecture Prof. Dr. Ulrich Bröckling: Textdiskussion „Untergang als Argument. Politiken der Apokalypse“, 19 December 2024
- Session on Queer Narrative Theory, led by research area member Hatunnur Ciftci, 12 February 2025
- Reading Group on Feminist Narratology, 20 May 2025
- Guest Lecture "Anthropofugal Fictions" by Simona Bartolotta (Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow, JLU-Giessen), 1 December 2025
- Workshop "Social Media, Political Reality, and Trump 2.0" with Dr. Sara Polak, 03 February 2026