Towards a Critical Ethical Narratology

Nora Berning

Towards a Critical Ethical Narratology. Analyzing Value Construction in Literary Non-Fiction across Media

ISBN 978-3-86821-455-0, 200 S., kt., € 25,00 (2013)

(WVT-Handbücher und Studien zur Medienkulturwissenschaft, Bd. 9)

Narratives in general and the postmodern, hybrid genre of literary non-fiction in particular supply the ideas that delineate the important themes of our culture. Vehicles of knowledge, values, and beliefs, works of literary non-fiction formulate philosophical themes, define what we consider to be existential problems, and construct our cultural worldmodels. This study analyzes value construction in literary non-fiction in different types of media: literary non-fiction novel, photo narrative, graphic novel, hypertext. Critical Ethical Narratology (CEN) is an analytical framework specifically designed for shedding light on the worldmaking potential of literary non-fiction. CEN is a valuable tool for researchers who want to keep both the normative function of ways of worldmaking and the conditions of mediality that shape cultural world-construction firmly in view. CEN is able to address not only many of the pressing questions that an ethical or critical analysis alone could not resolve, but it also enables scholars to work independently of a conception of narratology that privileges either form or content.

Buchvorschau / Inhaltsverzeichnis (pdf)

Pressestimmen

"Bernings kritische Annäherung an eine 'ethische', transmediale Narratologie besticht neben klarer Struktur und stringenter Argumentation durch den Mut, ihr Instrumentarium auf nicht-fiktionale Medien sowie auf heterogenes Material anzuwenden und den Mehrwert einer narratologischen Perspektive u.a. für Bildinterpretationen freizulegen. Gerade die transmedialen Fallstudien bestechen über weite Strecken mit interessanten narratologischen Befunden und ermutigen insgesamt dazu, Ber­ nings Dissertation zur ‚ethischen‘ Narratologie als Anregung zu verstehen, die Anwendbarkeit narratologischer Kategorien auf textuelles und piktorales Erzählen weiter auszuweiten. Da Bernings Studie u.a. diese schwierige Transferleistung in ihrer Interpretation der Fotoserien gelingt, wäre der Arbeit vielleicht gerade auch eine Rezeption in der Bild- und Medienwissenschaft zu wünschen, da sie hier u.U. einen hilfreichen Impuls auf dem Gebiet des seriellen Erzählens bzw. der Theorien des Bildakts liefern könnte."

Philipp Hubmann, Diegesis: Interdisziplinäres E-Journal für Erzählforschung 4.2 (2015)

"Nora Berning's book Towards a Critical Ethical Narratology is an insightful and rigorously researched examination of the ways in which narratological and technical structures influence, interact with, and communicate the ethical content of works of literary non-fiction. The key strengths of Berning's work are its breadth of research and the adaptability of the central arguments to the developing and multifaceted genre of literary non-fiction. Berning's synthesis of disparate texts and media, as well as her gesture towards the questions which will be asked in the future as work on 'new' media such as graphic novels and photo narratives continues, is indicative of the world-making potential of the genre and its criticism: as she demonstrates, it is in the textual communication and further questioning that literary non-fiction and its criticism furthers ethical reflection and establishes positive ethical communication with audiences."

Jason Archbold, KULT_online 37 (2014)