Relevance and Narrative Research

(Hardback)

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Relevance is one of the most widely used buzz words in academic and other socio-political discourses and institutions today, which constantly ask us to be relevant. To date, there is no profound scholarly conceptualization of the term, however, which is widely accepted in the humanities. Relevance and Narrative Research closes this gap by initiating a discussion which turns the vaguely defined evaluative tool relevance into an object of study. The contributors to this volume do so by firmly situating questions of relevance in the context of narrative theory. Briefly put, they ask either What can relevance do for narrative research or What can narrative research do for better understanding relevance or both. The basic assumption is that relevance is a relational term. Further assuming that most (if not all) relations which human beings encounter within their cultures are narratively constructed, the contributors to this volume suggest that reflections on narrative and narrative research are fundamental to any endeavor to conceptualize notions of relevance.

Reviews

Based on the premise that relevanceas a relational conceptis intrinsically embedded in narrative, this poignant, in-depth inquiry examines social, cultural, and institutional constructions of relevance using the tools of narrative theory. In a complementary meta-theoretical gesture, contributors to the volume apply, challengingly, the notion of relevance to narratology itself. A most timely and, dare I say, relevant study. -- Ondej Piln, Charles University
Reflecting critically upon the established sociological and linguistic theories of relevance and at the same time overcoming their limitations, this book is a rigorous and enlightening examination of how narration and narrative procedures determine the conceptual conventions of the reader on the creation and success of the accepted notions of relevance. In addition to an extensive and lucid introduction on the current state of relevance studies by the book's editors, the volume features an outstanding selection of essays by a host of international scholars from Europe, and the United States. The scope of the volume is conceptually and thematically wide-ranging and its essays focus on a plethora of diverse and complementary texts that span from the Romantic novel to Naturalism, contemporary short fiction, and French Minimalist narratives. This book convincingly demonstrates that the dialogue and mutual interchange between narratology and the theories of relevance can be an effective tool to reinforce the transformative power of narratives and to assert the epistemological and ethical goals of humanistic studies in an age dominated by the constraints and insufficiencies of the technological discourse and worldview. -- Gonzalo Navajas, University of California, Irvine
This is an excellent collection on a timely topic, edited by two leaders in the field, and gathering an impressive number of original contributions from leading researchers. -- Edward Kanterian, University of Kent
Talk of relevance is ubiquitous in the humanities these days, but rarely is there a reflection on what it means to be relevant. This volume therefore answers a real need. Its interdisciplinary contributions make a compelling case for the close connection between narrative (research) and relevance (theory). -- Michael Butter, University of Tbingen

Author Bio

Matei Chihaia is professor of French and Spanish literature at the University of Wuppertal. Katharina Rennhak is professor of English literature at the University of Wuppertal.