life writing: first lecture
TRANSCRIPT
What Is Life Writing?
FIRST LECTURE
sjoerd-jeroen [email protected]
education| storytelling | culture
EXAMPLE LIFE WRITING
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Dying for relief
o Turning lives intostories(“Life stories”)
o Always a translation:
• Of actions into words, images, sounds
• Of events into plots
o Focuses on actualexperiences
LIFE WRITING
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o Makes it easier tounderstand whathappened to us andothers
o Creates a sense of autonomy
o Demands anemotionalinvestment of thereader
TO TURN LIVES INTO STORIES
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o Illustrates a largerevent or process
o Of rather: deconstructs thislarger event or proces: counternarratives
o Shows ‘the truth’ tobe not always true
WHY LIFE WRITING?
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EXAMPLE: MEN ARE SQUARE, WOMEN ARE CURVY
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o Grand narratives: idea about realitythat presents itselfas reality itself(religions, nationalhistories, stereotypes, etc.)
o Small narratives: individual histories
GRAND AND SMALL NARRATIVES
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o Grand narrative demandsharmony by declaringeverything else:
• Taboo
• Lie
• Insanity
o Life writing:
• Offers counternarratives
• Challenges grand narratives
• Incites (social) change
COUNTERNARRATIVES
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EXERCISE 1
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Think of a grand narrative
Imagine a possible counternarrative and describewhat this counternarrative would look like. What
would it be about, what would happen?
(This could be a good topic for a life writing story!)
o Storytelling is a process; an act
o We need:
• Storyteller
• Story
• Content
• Audience
WHAT IS STORYTELLING?
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Ethical dimension of storytelling: A story is toldby someone for someonein a specific situation for a specific reason
o Knowledge of andreflection on morals
o Morals:
• What one should do in relation to others
• Norms and values
WHAT IS ETHICS?
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oWhat is morallyright
oWhy act morally
oConditions foracting morally
ETHICAL QUESTIONS
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?
oMorality: definedby framing
oEthics: reflectionon this framing
oStorytelling: could offer alternativeframings
ETHICS
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