Narrat Theor:Crit Conc Lit V1

by Mieke Bal

Following the more recent development of cultural studies, narratology is currently enjoying a kind of comeback due to its long history of engaging non-literary objects. In the 1990s and up to the present, the increasing attention to visual culture has opened up a dialogue between narratology and visual art, which has been made indispensable by the flourishing development of film studies courses. Narrative theory therefore has relevance for a wide number of academic disciplines, anthropology; communication; cultural and media studies; history; organization studies; philosophy; post-colonial studies; religious studies and women's/gender studies.This set of volumes reprints essential papers on the history, breadth, and applicability of narrative theory. The collection includes articles from the leading names of narrative theory, such as Roland Barthes, Mikhail Bakhtin, Tzvetan Todorov and Jean-Françoise Lyotard, as well as lesser-known, though equally important, contributions.

416 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

Mieke Bal is a Dutch literary theorist, cultural and art historian.

Areas of interest range from biblical and classical antiquity to 17th century and contemporary art and modern literature, feminism and migratory culture. Her many publications include A Mieke Bal Reader (2006), Travelling Concepts in the Humanities (2002) and Narratology (4th edition 2017). Her view of interdisciplinary analysis in the Humanities and Social Sciences is expressed in the profile of what she has termed “cultural analysis”, the basis of ASCA. See the video clip on the right side of this page, where I explain the approach.

Mieke is also a video artist, her internationally exhibited documentaries on migration include Separations, State of Suspension, Becoming Vera and the installation Nothing is Missing and are part of the Cinema Suitcase collective. With Michelle Williams Gamaker she made the feature film A Long History of Madness, a theoretical fiction about madness, and related exhibitions (2012). Her following project Madame B: Explorations in Emotional Capitalism, also with Michelle, is exhibited worldwide. She just finished a feature film and 5-screen installation on René Descartes and his infelicitously ending friendship with Queen Kristina of Sweden.

Occasionally she acts as an independent curator. Her co-curated exhibition 2MOVE travelled to four countries. She is currently preparing an exhibition for the Munch museum in Oslo.