Narrative Matters 2012 (Paris) – Ideas for Papers

See below a copy of the earlier posting for this conference. As Narrative Matters is a key narrative conference (which comes around every two years) and as it will be in Europe for a change (not north America), it seems to me to provide a perfect opoortunity for all those of us with a narrative bent to take part and to do by: 

1. making a proposal for a free-standing paper
2. additionally considering joining in a (still rough and ready) idea for a Panel on which I will start a separate discussion thread shortly.

Through 1 and 2 we can make a collective presence at this key conference and I am strongly encouraging as many of you as possible to think about 1 for sure, and 2 also if appropriate.

So, how about adding (asa comment to this posting) yuor developing ideas for what you might propose as yuor offering for the free-standing paper you could present in Paris?

Richard

http://my.aup.edu/conference/narrative-matters-2012

The American University of Paris, The University of Paris Diderot-Paris 7, and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Narrative at St. Thomas University, invite scholars from all disciplines to reflect upon the productive interplay between life and narrative.

What is the relationship between life and narrative? As noted by Jerome Bruner in his article on “Life as Narrative” (1987), this is one of the central intellectual questions facing narrative inquiry and narrative practice across multiple disciplines – psychology, narratology and literary theory, digital media, sociology, history, sociolinguistics, philosophy, medicine, education, gerontology, communications, social work, ethics, religious studies, etc.

Scholars are invited to organize panel sessions and present papers on various aspects of the broad theme of “Life and Narrative.” Possible questions include:

• What is the relationship between telling and living?
• How can the narrative concept help us to better understand experience, interpretation and action?
• What does literature teach us about aspects of life, experience, mind, and social relationships?
• How can narrative research have a greater impact on the lives of real persons and institutions?
• How can narrative theory and practice better inform one another?
• Can there be a “true” narrative? What are the boundaries between fact and fiction, between autobiography and autofiction?
• How is identity storied, restoried, even de-storied across the lifespan?
• What is the effect of the media (new and old) on identity?
• What is the relationship between what is archived in individual memories and social institutions and the stories that we tell?