Fact and Fiction

Albrecht Koschorke

Albrecht Koschorke

Fact and Fiction

Elements of a General Theory of Narrative

In: Paradigms, 6

Translated by: Joel Golb

De Gruyter | 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110349689

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About this book

How can we develop a cultural theory starting with the basic insight that human beings are "storytelling animals"?

Within literary studies, narratology is a highly developed field. However, literary historians have not paid much attention to the large and small stories abounding in everyday discourse, guiding all kinds of social activity, and providing common ground for whole societies—but also fueling controversies and hostilities. Moreover, "narrative" is not only a scholarly category but has come into use in many fields of social activity as a tool for cultural self-fashioning. This book is based on the assumption that to a large extent, social dynamics is modeled in an aesthetic manner via narratives. It explores the narrative organization of cultural spaces and time-frames, the mythological shaping of communities and adversaries, and the co-production of narratives and institutions aimed at stabilizing social life. In this framework, the epistemological problem looms large of how an instrument as unreliable as narrative can participate in the creation of a social consensus regarding truth.

This problem endows the general topics explored in this book with a particularly contemporary dimension.

Author information

Albrecht Koschorke, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	I
Acknowledgment Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	V
Contents Free access PDF PDF	VII
1 .The Universality of Narration Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
2. Elementary Operations Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	15
3 .Cultural Fields Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	86
4. The Modeling of Social Time Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	160
5.Narratives and Institutions Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	232
6. Epistemic Narratives Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	268
Bibliography Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	325
Author Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	341
Subject Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	347

Fact and Fiction

Elements of a General Theory of Narrative

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