Narrative Matters 2014, the 7^th Narrative Matters conference, will be held from 23^rd June to 27^th June 2014 at the University of Paris Diderot and the American University of Paris. The conference will address the theme of Narrative Knowing / Récit et savoir. This conference will bring together scholars of all disciplines — psychology, psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology, history, philosophy, linguistics, literary studies, feminist and gender studies, education, medicine/healthcare, social work, biology, law, theology, computer science, visual studies, etc. — to reflect on the issue of the, sometimes, contested epistemic powers of narrative.

Argument

This conference will bring together scholars of all disciplines — psychology, psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology, history, philosophy, linguistics, literary studies, feminist and gender studies, education, medicine/healthcare, social work, biology, law, theology, computer science, visual studies, etc. — to reflect on the issue of the, sometimes, contested epistemic powers of narrative.

What relations are there between narrative and knowledge? How do forms of knowledge inform and produce narratives? How do narratives communicate or produce knowledge? Which ones? What is the nature of narrative knowledge as opposed to other forms of knowledge (common or spontaneous knowledge of reality, scientific knowledge, philosophical “wisdom”, etc.)? Does narrative constitute a privileged mode of knowledge or is it an epistemologically opaque means of pursuing the truth?

Themes

Potential themes include (but are not limited to):

• Narrative knowing. What is the role of narrative form in the production of knowledge? Is narrative a way of thinking, accounting for human affairs, opposed to logical reasoning, describing the natural world?
• Narrative analysis. How does gathering and interpreting narrative data generate knowledge in the social sciences (social relations, human development and aging, mental health, learning, organizations, politics, etc.)? 
• Scientific narratives. What is the role of narratives in constructing forms of scientific knowledge and in learning from them? What is the relation between narrative discourse and scientific discourse?
• Narrative medicine. How does narrative participate in the construction and transmission of medical knowledge, the understanding of illness and the application of medical knowledge in research, the doctor’s office and public health?
• Narrative and the media. What is the place of narrative in the media (cinema 3D, “High Frame Rate”, interactive video games, social media, journalism) and the kinds of knowledge created and transmitted by audiovisual, digital and other media?
• Narrative and social reality. How do narratives imagine the past, collective identity and collective memory? Is historical writing a science or storytelling? How do stories challenge ways of knowing, in counter-memories or revisionism?
• Narrative and epistemology. What kind of object of knowledge is narrative (e.g., in narrative theory, education sciences, etc.)? Is narrative a means of knowledge, mediating knowing? How can narrative operate as obstacle to knowledge, refusing knowledge by denying narrative?
• Narrative and fiction. How do different forms of narration challenge the borders between fiction and non-fiction (autofiction, literary journalism, novelistic biographies or autobiographies, historical novels)? Can the narrative point of view be a way of knowing in fiction and non-fiction?
• Narrative representation. How is knowledge in fictional literary narrative configured and represented? What can literature bring to our understanding of society and social relationships?

The “connaissance de l’écrivain” (“writer’s knowledge”, Jacques Bouveresse). What are the epistemic benefits of reading literary narrative?

We will accept both empirical and theoretical contributions. All methods and approaches are welcome. Proposals can be in English or in French. Some of the proposals will be selected for publication.

Submission of proposals

Proposals for papers or panels must be submitted online

before November, 15^th 2013.

The submission tool will be available beginning September, 1^st 2013.

• Papers. All paper submissions must be less than 300 words.
• Panels. All panel submissions must contain an abstract describing the theme or purpose of the panel and abstracts for each paper (300 words max). Panels should bring together three to four papers.
• Authors will provide a brief bio and a list of keywords.
• Submissions will be reviewed for clarity, organization and scientific value.
• If you have questions, please contact: narrativematters2014@aup.edu.

Calendar

• September, 1^st 2013: opening of the website for papers and panels submissions
• November, 15^th 2013: deadline for the submission of proposals
• January, 15^th 2014: notification of acceptance of proposals
• February, 15^th 2014: opening of registration
• April, 15^th 2014: closing of registration

Plenary speakers

• Jacques Bouveresse, Collège de France
• Philippe Carrard, University of Vermont, Dartmouth College
• Donald Polkinghorne, University of Southern California

Workshops

• Preconference workshops will be organized, principally for graduate students and beginning scholars:
• Narrative Analysis (Alexandra Georgakopoulou, King’s College London)
• Narrative Care (to be confirmed)
• Narrative Interviewing (Amia Lieblich, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Ruthellen Josselson, Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, CA)
• Narrative Writing (Hubert Haddad, poet and novelist)

Language

Conference languages will be English and French. We would like both languages to be represented equally.

Submission for Conference Publication

We are soliciting papers for a collection of papers from the conference. The volume will be published in the open archives at Hal-Diderot (http://hal-univ-diderot.archives-ouvertes.fr).

Organizing Committee

Sylvie Patron, Associate Professor and Research Supervisor (maître de conferences habilitée à diriger des recherches) in French Literature, specialist in narrative theory, University of Paris Diderot-Paris 7

Brian Schiff, Associate Professor in Psychology, American University in Paris, main organizer of the 2012 conference.

Contact: narrativematters2014@aup.edu

Board of Specialists

• Sylvie Archaimbault, University of Paris Diderot

• Clive Baldwin, University of St. Thomas
• Catherine Bernard, University of Paris Diderot
• Florence Binard, University of Paris Diderot
• Ernst Bohlmeijher, University of Twente (Netherlands)
• Florence Dumora, University of Paris Diderot
• Anne Goliot-Lété, University of Paris Diderot
• Marc Hersant, University Jean Moulin-Lyon III
• Christian Hervé, University of Paris Descartes

• Gary Kenyon, University of St. Thomas

• Françoise Lavocat, University of la Sorbonne nouvelle
• Céline Lefève, University of Paris Diderot

• Linda Martz, The American University of Paris
• Elizabeth McKim, University of St. Thomas

• Kai Mikkonen, University of Helsinki (Finland)
• Nathalie Montoya, University of Paris Diderot  
• Claude Murcia, University of Paris Diderot  
• Jacqueline Nacache, University of Paris Diderot  
• Frédéric Ogée, University of Paris Diderot  
• Sylvie Patron (see above)

• Nathalie Piégay-Gros, University of Paris Diderot  
• William Randall, University of St. Thomas

• Claudia Roda, The American University of Paris
• Cécile Sakai, University of Paris Diderot  
• Brian Schiff (see above)

• Anneke Sools, University of Twente
• Pierre-Olivier Toulza, University of Paris Diderot  
• Carine Trevisan, University of Paris Diderot  

• Gerben Westerhof, University of Twente