Paper short abstract:

The paper discusses the possibilities of adopting the analysis of narrative structures between narrative surface and deep structure to ethnological and historical exhibitions.

Paper long abstract:

Based on the analysis of texts between the narrative surface and the deep structure, this paper wants to extend this approach to exhibitions as hybrid forms of narrative and non-narrative argumentations. Not only the verbal contents of an exhibition transport content, but also the architecture, the spatial and sensual aspects, the way of presenting and contextualising the objects, the modus of participation and integration of communities, altogether can be read as types of narratives. Thus it is intended to consider the scale between verbal, visual, spatial and sensual narrativity.

Paper short abstract:

In our discipline, storytelling research has always been present, be it through nationally relevant findings on different text genres (saga, fairy tales, lifenarrative, oral history). Compared to the what, the how of storytelling is only a secondary question.

Paper long abstract:

In our discipline, storytelling research

has always been present, be it through nationally relevant findings on the text genres of the

saga, fairy tales and ballads in the 19th century, or be it as documentation of the variance of

a prototypical form, of the repertoire of particular storytellers, their biographies or of

performance. Compared to the what, the how of storytelling is only a secondary question. It

was researched occasionally by such representatives of our discipline as Axel Olrik, Vladimir Propp and Max Luthi. However, the crucial

impulses for an understanding of how storytelling is accomplished came from literary

research; for instance from Käte Friedemann, Eberhard Lämmerts, from Gérard Genette's Discours du récit (1972) and Nouveau discours du récit (1983), and from the discipline of history, for instance from Hayden White. Ethnological storytelling research, in its own interests as a discipline but also with a view to exchange with other subjects, should resolutely address formal questions: How is narrative condensation achieved? Which schemata and patterns facilitate the coherence of the storytelling which endows narrative "truth"? What do we do when we tell stories? This is all the more pressing since the exact sciences themselves have discovered the potential of narrative. According to Evelyn Fox, the goal of scientific research is typically to explain

things and processes which one possesses no clear knowledge. For this purpose, researchers

must find ways of talking about the completely unknown; things about which they can only

guess and speculate - in short: tell stories.

Paper short abstract:

The paper tries to deal with two epistemological issues connected with ethnography-based narrative research, i. e. with dynamics between spoken narratives and social behaviour and with issue of degrees of veracity of specific kind of narratives within different social spaces.

Paper long abstract:

The paper tries to deal with two major epistemological issues connected with ethnography-based narrative research which the author encountered during his last book project(s) dealing with oral narratives about preternatural phenomena in the Central Europe in the first half of the 20th century. First one deals with dynamics between spoken (or written) narratives and social behaviour; i. e. with different forms which narratives about specific kind of behaviour could take, and/or with different forms which certain social behaviour can take, inspired by specific kind of narratives. Some of this dynamics had been historically explained by semiotic approaches, e. g. by Yuri Lotman and Linda Dégh (with her concept of ostension), but more refined approach is needed to thoroughly interpret this complicated phenomenon. The second one deals with issue of degrees of veracity of specific kind of narratives within different social spaces; although positivist search for "true" narratives is still prevalent in some strands of folklore research, more complex approach is also needed, especially in contemporary age of post-truths and fake news.

Paper short abstract:

I would like to reflect on the epistemological elements that constitute the "making of" of the narrative production.

Paper long abstract:

In my presentation, I am going to focus in the theoretical approach for analyzing subjectivity and inter-subjectivity experiences during narrative production. My reflections came from a research conducted in a Primary Health Care Center of a poor neighborhood in Catalonia. The key points of my presentation have to do with the subjectivities of uncertainty linked to food insecurity, embodied precarization and hunger as key points for the narrative analysis. I would like also to reflect on the role of intersubjectivity, understood as we-relationship (Schutz, 1996), as an ontological category with a central role in the production of the story. On the other hand, I would like to describe the epistemological elements (ways of knowing) that constitute the "making of" of the construction of the subject within the framework of the story production. As a researcher with multiple identities, I also recognize my positioned nature (Rosaldo, 1989; Di Giacomo, 1992) in the field, as well as the spaces of representation.

Paper short abstract:

The presentation will argue for the study of a largely overlooked area in fairy-tale scholarship: narrative space. It will provide a brief overview of existing research and highlight the importance of narrative space in fairy tales as a potentially distinguishing element of the genre.

Paper long abstract:

Unlike other aspects of the fairy tale such as plot, themes or characters, narrative space has been accorded little scholarly attention. The paucity of literature on this aspect of the genre is perhaps understandable, given the emphasis on time in typical opening formulae and the overall scarcity of information on space. However, this presentation argues that the study of space can shed new light on the genre as its structure and function - especially in terms of the genreʼs central magical/nonmagical divide - distinguishes it from other short prose narrative genres such as legends, folk tales, or cautionary tales. In addition to discussing some of the main traits of fairy-tale space and its relationship to structure and characters, the presentation will also provide a brief overview of existing scholarship on fairy-tale space and propose some of its possible future directions.

Paper short abstract:

The paper drafts a narratologic concept of how to study narrative ressources within the political sphere. Therefore, it draws on classical approaches of narratology in the narrow sense - and tries to open new methodological perspectives.

Paper long abstract:

As the term "discourse" some years ago, currently the term "narrative" is omnipresent, in both academia and the broader media. The term occurs particular frequently regarding the political sphere: Politicians told narratives pointing into the future, parties were depending on historical narratives and, a national narrative drove the people in general. Narratives seem to determine nearly every political action, wish and fear. Even if this development may delight the researcher of narratives, it actually runs the risk the term could lose its sharpness. My paper tries to give some methodological ideas how to use the term "narrative" as a sharp tool for the understanding of political processes. Therefore, I try to show how classical theoretical approaches of narratology (e. g. Propp, Lotman, Todorov) and concepts of the cultural studies (e. g. "cultural memory", "cultural intimacy", "cultural inter-discursivity") are useful for the understanding of political narratives-an understanding beginning with the question, what is a "narrative" at all? Regarding to the mentioned authors and concepts, I give a draft towards methodology of political narratology. In that, the empirical applicability is the most important guideline. Hence, I exemplify my assumptions by referring to empirical data from the recent German populist movement, i. e. from the context of the "Alternative für Deutschland" and "Pegida".

Paper short abstract:

The paper intends to make a "new reading" of "conspiracy theory", examining how conspiracy theories are "narrated" in mass media journalistic productions and scientific publications.

Paper long abstract:

"Conspiracy Theories" have been approached from the psychological, historical and sociological side mostly to interpret their meaning and functions for human psyche, historical processes and social dynamics. For a long time, conspiracy theories were defined as a form of "pathological thinking" or "irrational belief", categorized as a deviation from normality. Constructivism and relational approaches in the humanities, social sciences, and cultural studies promise a kind of "rehabilitation" of the conspiracy theories: the study of "conspiracies as type of knowledge" (Anton / Schetsche / Walter 2013) or as "Narratives" (Seidler 2016) is rather recent and still a relatively unexplored perspective on the subject. But how does science and journalism write, talk and report about "conspiracy theories"? Which literary, pictorial, performative and stylistic elements create "conspiracy theory" as "heterodox thinking", as a "type of knowledge", as "narrative" or as "entertainment"? I think that, despite the intention of "rehabilitation", an Othering operates in the journalistic and scientific descriptions and the analysis of conspiracy theories. This Othering makes use of the poetics and aesthetics of strangeness and exotic ("the naïve", "the attractive", "the unusual", "the threatening", "the crazy"), but with the goal of protection and legitimation (under the appearance of "neutrality"/"objectivity") of one's own position and scientific/journalistic authority.

Paper short abstract:

The paper tries to show the ambiguity of Polish folk narratives about the Holocaust. The analysis is concentrated on the problem why this narratives were only told in special circumstances to selected listeners and what that way of performing can tell us about social relations in rural communities.

Paper long abstract:

Narratives about the Holocaust are of special significance to the Polish society mainly because of ongoing discussions about the participation of Poles in the extermination of Jews. Both what people say and what they do not say depends not only on propagated political ideas and changing media discourses. Even more important are the direct relations between members of small local communities in which former persecutors of Jews still live next to people who tried to help them. Such a situation is the reason of the emergence of hidden narratives, told only in the circle of family and close friends. In these narratives we can find not only interpretations of facts from the past but also an assessment of the attitudes of individual members of the community, which sets them a specific social position.

Based on the analysis of the folk narratives and field notes collected during ethnographic research conducted by Dionizjusz Czubala in the 70's and 80's of the twentieth century, this paper wants to show how we can use such materials to better understand the dynamics of social relations, that arise in situations of radical violation of existing norms and values.

Paper short abstract:

This research looks at how women who break traditional female stereotypes are portrayed in Icelandic legends of the past. The aim is to show how such legends can be used to shine a new light on feminism in a changing world.

Paper long abstract:

Folk legends and narratives can be an effective window into the past. They provide us with valuable information about world views in the time in which they were written down and also the ideas and ideology of the people who told them. It is therefore important to look at social context that surrounded the legends. Most Icelandic legends in the past were collected, told and recorded by men, meaning that most legends reflect their point of view.

My PhD project is based on the way women are portrayed in Icelandic legends. In this lecture I will look at how women who break traditional female stereotypes and gender roles are portrayed in Icelandic legends and the consequences that befall them in the stories. The women in question are witches, outlaws, women who do jobs usually done by men, and women who have children outside marriage or who do not marry the men they are expected to. The aim of the research is also to try to understand why they are presented in this way and to consider the interactions and potential conflicts that are shown as occurring between the male and female characters in the stories.

As will be shown here, the folk legends told by people in the rural world of the past shed valuable light on the place of women in a time of change in Icelandic society, attitudes which are worth considering as part of present day dialogues.

Paper short abstract:

The paper evaluates the ethnological sensations of SIEF members regarding their understanding of narrative

Paper long abstract:

If you look at the statements of SIEF members on their ethnological sensations, you will notice that narrative plays an important role in many of these.

The evaluation of these statements reveals concepts and perspectives on narratives by SIEF members that may be useful in formulating the mission statement, also regarding the positioning of the working group in the context of existing associations such as the ISFNR.