Target participants: Scholars interested in narratives
Affiliation: Narrative Network, ECREA Audience and Reception Studies Section and Department of Communication, University of Vienna
Venue: University of Vienna, Austria
Date: Apr 04 - Apr 05, 2009
Contact: susanne.kinnebrock@univie.ac.at, helena.bilandzic@uni-erfurt.de
Call for papers: http://www2.kommunikationswissenschaft-erfurt.de/uploads/call_narrative_workshop.pdf
The workshop deals with the question of how fictional and factual stories are intertwined at various levels and intends to deepen insights of how patterns of construction and the effects of stories differ with respect to its factual or fictional background.
One of the most important functions of media is to inform and connect citizens, enabling them to participate in democratic processes and providing the grounds for integration and social cohesion in a society. Specifically, media stories support and uphold these functions. Both journalistic stories referencing real life events as well as fictional stories referencing fictitious worlds contribute to the audience’s knowledge and world view – possibly complementing or contradicting each other. Fictional and factual stories increasingly converge in terms of style and content. Topics are followed up across pragmatic boundaries. A good example of this is Dan Brown’s book The Da Vinci Code that reinterprets biblical history, which has solicited popular historical books scrutinizing the novel’s assertions. While the distinction of fact and fiction is clear on the production side, it seems to be less clear in the audience’s mind and next to irrelevant for actual story experience and effects.
Contributions may address aspects such as:
- What different types of narrative patterns exist in factual and fictional media stories?
- What are characteristics of effective stories?
- How do factual and fictional stories interact in the audience’s mind?
Please send abstracts (150 words) for 30-minute presentations via email to the organizers Susanne Kinnebrock or Helena Bilandzic at the addresses listed below.
The deadline for submissions has expired on 8 February 2009.
Organization:
Prof. Dr. Susanne Kinnebrock
University of Vienna, Austria
Lammgasse 8
1080 Wien
Tel. +43 1 4277 49382
Fax: +43 1 4277 49366
susanne.kinnebrock@univie.ac.at
Dr. Helena Bilandzic
University of Erfurt, Germany
Nordhäuser Str. 63
99089 Erfurt, Germany
Tel. +49 361 737 4182
Fax +49 361 737 4179
helena.bilandzic@uni-erfurt.de
