The Limits of Narrative

Description

Narrative, today, is everywhere. From spin doctors encouraging politicians to engage in storytelling, to nurses writing narrative journals for their patients; from change managers seeking to mould the ‘corporate narrative’ of their organisations, to coaches teaching people how to turn experiences into stories – there seem to be no limits to narrative and its possible uses.

Confronted with this ubiquitous narrative turn, we take a step back to reflect, from a critical distance, on the limits of narrative. What are a narrative's strengths, and weaknesses? What is narrative, but also: what is not narrative? During a week-long, intensive programme, the 2023 Netherlands Winter School on Narrative (formerly the Groningen Winter School on Narrative) will thematize these issues, from both fundamental and applied research perspectives, and in the context of professional storytelling practices.

We will explore a variety of interrelated themes, such as the possibilities and impossibilities of narrative, resistance to narrative, anti-narrative traditions - unnatural narratives, impossible puzzle narratives -, and the dangers of narrative: what are the risks of narrative, when should we not engage in storytelling?

The Netherlands Winter School on Narrative being strongly interdisciplinary, we will study and discuss the limits of narrative in a variety of media and settings, ranging from literature and film, via politics, religion, science, and medicine, to journalism, and integrating contemporary developments in the study of narrative from different academic fields (cultural studies, cognitive approaches, psychology, narratology).

The school will include a day focusing on applied narratology with workshops organised by the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, as well as an international symposium on "Puzzling Stories".

Period	30-Jan-2023 → 3-Feb-2023
Event type	Conference
Location	Groningen, NetherlandsShow on map