John Benjamins Publishing Company
Towards an embodied theory of narrative and storytelling
Abstract
It is argued that storytelling activity is grounded in the bodies of the participants, in the situation including the material artifacts, relationships, and in the organization of the storytelling. Storytelling by persons with a brain disorder (Alzheimer’s disease) is taken as a case in point of what happens when a part of the body – the brain – no longer can be used as a storytelling tool. In telling stories both storyteller and listener use a number of functional networks as resources. Telling stories is about transforming various kinds of experiences through the use of shared semiotic resources into a story that is performed and perceived multimodally by the participants. An embodied approach puts a stronger emphasis on the performance of storytelling rather than on the text.
Abstract
It is argued that storytelling activity is grounded in the bodies of the participants, in the situation including the material artifacts, relationships, and in the organization of the storytelling. Storytelling by persons with a brain disorder (Alzheimer’s disease) is taken as a case in point of what happens when a part of the body – the brain – no longer can be used as a storytelling tool. In telling stories both storyteller and listener use a number of functional networks as resources. Telling stories is about transforming various kinds of experiences through the use of shared semiotic resources into a story that is performed and perceived multimodally by the participants. An embodied approach puts a stronger emphasis on the performance of storytelling rather than on the text.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction, or another story of narrative 1
-
Exploring the narrative turns
- Travelling metaphors, transforming concepts 13
- Why narrative is here to stay 43
- To the narrative turn and back 63
- Travelling with narrative 83
- Philosophical underpinnings of the narrative turn in theory and fiction 93
-
Travelling between fiction and non-fiction
- Fact and fiction 121
- Broken or unnatural? 141
- Making sense in autobiography 163
- “Unnatural” narratives? 179
- Storytelling on the go 201
-
Travelling from body to story
- Towards an embodied theory of narrative and storytelling 227
- Fractured narratives 245
- Broken stories 265
-
Concluding reflections
- Twists and turns 287
- List of contributors 303
- Index 307
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction, or another story of narrative 1
-
Exploring the narrative turns
- Travelling metaphors, transforming concepts 13
- Why narrative is here to stay 43
- To the narrative turn and back 63
- Travelling with narrative 83
- Philosophical underpinnings of the narrative turn in theory and fiction 93
-
Travelling between fiction and non-fiction
- Fact and fiction 121
- Broken or unnatural? 141
- Making sense in autobiography 163
- “Unnatural” narratives? 179
- Storytelling on the go 201
-
Travelling from body to story
- Towards an embodied theory of narrative and storytelling 227
- Fractured narratives 245
- Broken stories 265
-
Concluding reflections
- Twists and turns 287
- List of contributors 303
- Index 307
