Canonical Narrative Research Articles

Weaving narrative threads with social psychological processes: Narrative modulations in online consumer reviews of a medical memoir

With the growing prevalence of health and illness narratives on digital platforms, research examining the social psychological processes involved in these storytelling environments remains scarce. This paper addresses this research gap by conducting a mixed-methods study of digital storytelling within the UK’s healthcare context, focusing on online consumer reviews of the medical memoir, Do no harm: stories of life, death and brain surgery (Marsh, 2014). Utilising computer-assisted text analysis methods of LIWC-22 and the Sketch Engine, linguistic cues for cognitive, affective, social and perceptual processes are identified in a corpus of online consumer reviews. A subsequent qualitative analysis, based on ‘narrative modulation’ (Huang, 2024, 2020), investigates the role of these processes in constructing and developing storylines across the user reviews. Finally, the study explores how consumer reviews in the form of ‘small stories’ challenge canonical narratives in the UK’s healthcare services. This research advances the field of narrative studies by emphasising the role of social psychological processes (Chung and Pennebaker, 2019) in modulating emerging, evolving and counter narratives in digital storytelling. The findings reveal an instrumental role of social psychological processes, as signalled by linguistic cues, in shaping narrative threads in online user reviews. This study not only develops narrative modulation as a valuable concept for narrative analysis, but also underscores its effectiveness when combined with computer-assisted text analysis tools for in-depth examinations of narrative data. Furthermore, it provides critical insights into digital storytelling in healthcare contexts, promoting knowledge transfer across narrative studies, stylistics, social psychology and medical humanities.

El lugar de la violencia hacia los pobladores durante la dictadura cívico-militar en Chile: disputas y silenciamientos en la construcción de narrativas oficiales (1973-2023)

Objective/context: The article analyzes the tensions in the construction of official and alternative truths about the repression of pobladores during the civil- military dictatorship in Chile (1973-1990). Despite the magnitude and massiveness of the repression against this group, it has only been officially recognized in a nominal and exclusive way. Based on a socio-historical reconstruction of the place occupied by the repression toward the impoverished sectors of the city, we investigate the narratives contained in the official reports of the truth commissions and the alternative responses of civil society. Methodology: A case study based on documentary analysis of reports, press, and secondary bibliography. Conclusions: The study evidences the contentious character of settlers in the canonical narratives on political violence during the civil-military dictatorship. In this context, civil society has played a key role in the dispute over the meanings and temporalities of violence; similarly, the place of pobladores as key actors in the political dynamics of the last decades is discussed. Originality: Given the scarcity of works that focus on the representation of pobladores in building official and alternative truths, our findings highlight the gaps and debts in constructing truths about the places and subjects of violence fifty years after the coup d’état in Chile.

Linguistic and cultural specifics of the sports media narrative (based on the example of sports commentaries in Canada and Russia)

This study is devoted to the comparative study of the specifics of the sports media narrative. The aim of the study is to compare the sports media narrative in the linguistic and cultural paradigm (based on the material of sports commentaries from Canada and Russia). The object of the study is the sports media narrative in the Canadian and Russian linguistic cultures. The subject of the study is the linguistic and cultural aspect of the sports media narrative of Russia and Canada. The relevance of this article lies in the fact that events in the field of sports reflect the problems of globalization and forecasting the future, which determines the importance of both a comprehensive and aspect-based study of communication in this field and, in particular, the sports media narrative. In addition, comparative studies that identify the linguistic and cultural features of the modern media text, its expressive capabilities as a means of organizing narration, correspond to the methodology of modern language science. The main methods used in this work are comparative discourse analysis and the linguistic narrative method. In addition, quantitative data processing methods were used. The novelty of this work is due to the fact that for the first time a comparative analysis of the sports media narrative in English and Russian (based on the material of sports commentary) is carried out. Conclusions: oral texts produced within the framework of both discourses are characterized by internal dynamics, polycode (the commentator's speech is accompanied by a video sequence) and are arranged in accordance with the canonical narrative sequence. When describing the image of an event, commentators, speakers of different linguistic cultures, use an extra-egitic strategy (an omniscient observer-narrator), sometimes using an introdiegetic strategy (the desire to indirectly become a participant in the narrated events). Linguistic and cultural differences are most clearly seen at the level of speech types. Russian commentators are characterized by the use of informative narration, while Canadian commentators use descriptive narration. The second most significant type of speech in the Russian media discourse is reasoning. For Canadian commentators, the description is more typical. The Russian sports media narrative follows a dramatic (plot) way of showing events, while the Canadian one follows a chronotopic one, i.e. it is determined by reference to time and place. The revealed differences may indicate that when narrating an event, commentators create a "second reality" based on their axiological attitudes due to cultural differences between the two countries.

Narrative Space and Transtextual Dialogues in Emma Donoghue’s 'Kissing the Witch'

This article aims to introduce a critical reading of the narrative space of Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins by the Irish author Emma Donoghue. In this collection of rewritten fairy tales, Donoghue not only thematically reimagines the popular classical fairy tales penned by Grimms, Beaumont, Perrault and Andersen, she also makes the protagonist/narrator of each story the narratee of the next one, allowing for a dialogue between diverse figures from oral and written tradition across cultures. The narrative strategy and framing technique deployed by Donoghue enables a transtextual space of gathering where previously objectified and focalized female characters of canonical tales engage in dialogue through storytelling. The possibilities offered by this transtextual agency of rewriting will be explored from a narratological perspective, paying particular attention to gender-informed politics of reimagining canonical narratives. As examples of “rewriting as displacement”, according to Doležel’s categorization, the tales in Kissing the Witch create story-worlds that affirm transgression and flow against all forms of stabilizing and restricting mechanisms of normativity. Talking back to the canon and literary convention through first-person narratives of classical fairy tale characters, the collection offers an unsettling example of the liberating potential of storytelling against ossified and ossifying power mechanisms.

The Gendered Politics of Postmodern Parody in Acker’s Great Expectations

This paper critically explores the gendered politics of Kathy Acker’s use of postmodern parody in her novel Great Expectations (1982). By using the textual codes and paradigms of postmodern parody, as theorized by Linda Hutcheon, Acker seeks to initiate a parodic appropriation of the Dickensian text in order to interrogate the culturally privileged gender norms encoded in this male text. Acker’s parodic rewriting of Dickens’ Great Expectations(1862) is really one of textual appropriation as it seeks to re-write the male text from a totally different, notably gendered, perspective. The aim of such an appropriation is to create a textual space to negotiate issues of gender and female agency. Acker seeks to challenge culturally established canonical narratives of male dominance. She does this by creating feminist counter narratives that bring to the fore issues of gender identity and difference. Keywords: Gender Politics, Postmodern Parody, Textual Appropriation, Intertextuality, Linda Hutcheon

Stereotyping the Feminine in Greek Mythology: The Embodiment of Womens Social Roles in Canonical Narrative

Stereotyping the Feminine in Greek Mythology: The Embodiment of Womens Social Roles in Canonical Narrative

Canonical Narratives as a Tool of Analysis in Psychology

In this article, I develop the concept of canonical narratives, drawing on Jerome Bruner’s (1915-2016) later writings on the central role of culture in shaping human psychology. I argue that we can develop the concept of canonical narratives past its initial purpose in explaining how folk psychology acquires meaning for individuals and develop the concept into a tool of analysis that can shed new light on the broader dialectic between academic psychology and social-cultural environments. I examine the role of canonical narratives in contemporary psychology by focusing on the narrative that human beings are best conceptualized as machines. I argue that not only are psychology’s constructs shaped by social-cultural environments, which have been well established but that their meanings are, to some extent, established through a dialectic with canonical narratives.

El periplo internacional de Max Jiménez (1900-1947): mestizaje, sincretismo e itinerancia en la encrucijada genesíaca del arte de vanguardia costarricense

The article offers an unprecedented assessment of the international trajectory of Max Jiménez Huete (1900-1947), a seminal figure in Costa Rican and Central American avant-garde art in the 20th century. Despite being marginalized from the canonical narrative of modern art in Latin America, the aim is to elucidate a critical chronology of his travels, allowing for a systematic study of his work and establishing a rigorous documentary basis that links his aesthetic project with European, North American, and Latin American avant-gardes. Thus, it focuses on three key moments of his artistic progression: a) his training in Paris (1922-1925); b) his contact with Spanish culture (1929-1931/1933); c) his artistic maturity in Cuba (1935-1945).

On Vertices and Ruptures

The 1970s presented a crux in critical discourse on the state of artistic vanguardism in Brazil, one set against a regional repositioning of intellectual and curatorial strategies in response to the ongoing Cold War. This article delves into exhibitions and criticism during this fraught period in order to elucidate the reverberations between the political imperatives for the region’s artists and critics, and the institutionalization of the now canonical narrative of Brazilian modern art. The seventies saw the cementing of the history of Brazilian modernism, a process that engaged but also contradicted the surge in Latin Americanism then occurring in response to the region’s charged political context. Yet a consequence of writing this canon was also the ensuing neglect of conceptual practices that emerged during this period, manifesting as collective and collectivist expressions of a shared regional precarity.

Australian children’s picture books, the Frontier Wars, and Joseph Campbell’s hero with a thousand faces

Frank Uhr and Debra O’Halloran’s Multuggerah and the Sacred Mountain (2019) is one of the few children’s picture books that explore the Australian Frontier Wars. In terms of message, the author and illustrator subsume First Nations’ resistance into the nation’s broader celebration of its participation in foreign wars. In terms of medium, they use the overwhelmingly conservative genre of picture books to deradicalise a potentially controversial topic, one that they frame using Joseph Campbell’s conception of the monomyth. Campbell’s development of the monomyth, widely referred to by his major work The hero with a thousand faces (1949/2008) was drawn from his sustained academic study of comparative mythology. He found a similar pattern emerging in a multitude of story forms, fairy tales, songs, and sonnets, and within sacred writings, dreamings, and monologue accounts. The canonical narrative arc of the hero’s journey has three core elements. It begins as the hero receives a ‘call to adventure’ and leaves the ordinary world (Separation or Departure). He or she enters an extraordinary world that requires engagement in a range of trials and challenges (Initiation), before returning home to the ordinary world, irreversibly transfigured (Return). Multuggerah and the Sacred Mountain is framed by this trajectory, thereby ensuring a familiarity that belies the reader’s lack of knowledge as to its origin. The author and illustrator thereby avoid too overt a challenge to the ideological and genre-based expectations of their readers.

Lay theories of decreasing homophobia in the UK among an older heterosexual cohort

ABSTRACT Within the last 50 years, the UK has moved from prosecuting male homosexuality to identifying sexual orientation as a protected characteristic. There have been differing explanations for how this change has occurred. In the present study, we investigate how this political and moral change is understood by those who witnessed it, with the aim of gaining new insight into this change process. We elicited accounts from 25 heterosexual UK residents over the age of 65 years. First, we conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 21 participants. Second, we used a memory work method. Specifically, a group of four participants met four times with one of the researchers to share and discuss memories relevant to the research question. The analytic process aimed to reconstruct and make sense of the participants’ theorisations based on a thematic reading of the transcripts. Contact with LGBTQ people and increased awareness through the media were construed as central to the shift in societal homophobia. Participants remembered contact with LGBTQ people mediated by friends and family members but accounts show a complex understanding of social change that includes but also transcends direct personal experience and extant psychological theorising. Overall, this was a fragmented story of changing social norms, albeit one embedded within a canonical narrative of tolerance, decency and fairness.

Above the heteronormative narrative: looking up the place of Disney’s villains

Abstract The article proposes a re-examination of the role and position of the so-called “Disney villains” within the narrative framework of animated films and popular culture as a whole. In the first part, the historical evolution in the representation of these villains will be explored according to the practice of “queer coding,” which involves attributing stereotypically queer traits to them without explicitly stating their gender and sexual identity. It will be observed how their non-conforming gender and sexuality, used to mark their moral deviance, challenge and defy dominant gender and narrative norms. It is precisely through their queer performance and camp aesthetic that “evil stepmothers,” “sissy-villains,” and “drag-queen-like” sea witches can emancipate themselves from their traditional roles as antagonists (narrative level) and as social outcasts (discursive level) to seize the spotlight through the screen (manifest surface). This study combines tools of Greimasian text analysis, including the canonical narrative schema and the generative trajectory of meaning, with Lotman’s theory and notion of “semiosphere,” to investigate the centrality and criticality of these “quillains” within the heteronormative narrative framework and the broader cultural context. To capture (or being captured by) the queer aspect of these characters and their stories, the invitation is to look at their visage not as a coded symbol of an underlying identity and truth, but as an image that exceeds any defined meaning thanks to its iconic power.

Storytelling in prevention: the case-study of accidents at work. How the narrative method can enhance the prevention of occupational injuries.

This article aims to analyze the elements of the narrative which, applied to investigations of accidents at work, transform them into stories, making the dynamics of accidents clearer, more complete and emotionally engaging and also capable of being transferred to a non-experts audience. The theoretical reference identified for the analysis of the accident histories is the work of the Lithuanian semiologist Algirdas Julien Greimas. The title, the dimensions of space and time, the characters (according to the actantial model), the point of view, the structure of the story (following the canonical narrative scheme), and the moral of the tale are the elements of the narration analyzed in this article. This article illustrates how the dynamics of accidents can lend themselves to being told according to the typical categories of narration and textual organization, resulting in them being enriched with important elements for the communication of prevention and the learning of safe behaviour. The accident investigation that becomes history takes on important characteristics also in terms of communication: the contents become clearer, more accessible and more engaging. Unlike traditional surveys, injury stories, through the elements of the narrative and in particular with the addition of indications for prevention, become an efficient learning and sharing tool valid in training contexts, and the contents effectively usable in practice of prevention workers. The narration applied to accidents at work, allowing for greater attention to the elements of the context, relationships and the emotional sphere of the various actors involved, is able to bring out more clearly the important and various factors that can contribute to causing an accident, becoming thus an effective tool for the transfer of indications for prevention.

A different perspective on avian hippocampus function: Visual-spatial perception.

The behavioral and neural mechanisms that support spatial cognition have been an enduring interest of psychologists, and much of that enduring interest is attributable to the groundbreaking research of Ken Cheng. One manifestation of this interest, inspired by the idea of studying spatial cognition under natural field conditions, has been research carried out to understand the role of the avian hippocampal formation (HF) in supporting homing pigeon navigation. Emerging from that research has been the conclusion that the role of HF in homing pigeon navigation aligns well with the canonical narrative of a hippocampus important for spatial memory and the implementation of such memories to support navigation. However, recently an accumulation of disparate observations has prompted a rethinking of the avian HF as a structure also important in shaping visual-spatial perception or attention antecedent to any memory processing. In this perspective paper, we summarize field observations contrasting the behavior of intact and HF-lesioned homing pigeons from several studies, based primarily on GPS-recorded flight paths, that support a recharacterization of HF's functional profile to include visual-spatial perception. Although admittedly still speculative, we hope the offered perspective will motivate controlled, experimental-laboratory studies to further test the hypothesis of a HF important for visual-perceptual integration, or scene construction, of landscape elements in support of navigation.

Panibharata and the Invention of Sinhala Folk Dance Repertoires in Post-Colonial Sri Lanka

This article focuses on the history of the Sinhala folk dance genre and its connection to Sinhala cultural nationalism in Sri Lanka. This paper aims to examine the formation of Sinhala folk dance as a tradition in the context of the rise of Sinhala nationalism during the 1940s and 1950s. Although performing arts were commonly practiced by villagers, the genre named Sinhala Folk Dance (Sinhala gemi näțuma) did not emerge until the 1930s in Sri Lanka. Around 1956, in the midst of the rise of Sinhala cultural nationalism, it is believed that the stylistic choices that preceded the modern creative work of the new nation were drawn from “folk” sources. A classic example of this genre is E.R. Sarachchandra’s play Maname, which became the marker of modern Sinhala theatre, and which was based on the folk theatre tradition, the nadagama. Here, the assumption is that folk art already existed in the villages, and that the Sinhala literati merely borrowed from it to create new performing art forms that represented the nation. However, this assumption is an oversight in folk dance in Sri Lanka, as demonstrated in this article which presents an alternative interpretation of the history of performing arts in Sri Lanka, a history which has not been highlighted in the 1956 cultural revolution discourse. As I demonstrate in this article, Sinhala choreographer Panibharata invented certain dances which are considered Sinhala folk dance today. Sinhala nationalists groomed Panis, a village drummer and dancer, considered to be a low-caste, underprivileged individual into Panibharata, a cosmopolitan artist. Fulfilling these nationalists’ desires, Panibharata created repertoires of “folk dance” that portrayed village life in an exotic and romantic guise, which is aptly exemplified in his goyam näțuma (rice-harvesting dance). Panibharata’s model of folk choreography continues to be interpreted as the genuine and only Sri Lankan folk dance tradition, a narrative that was institutionalized and disseminated through the system of public education. In contrast to that canonical narrative of the Sinhala folk dance tradition, I argue that the staged model of Sinhala folk dance is a fairly recent invention. I analyze archival records, dance curricula, and secondary sources and interpret them according to my personal experiences as a dancer. To contextualize the purely Sinhala folk dance tradition, I compare the Russian folk dance and the Morris dance of England, that developed as separate national folk dance traditions.

The Fairy Tales and Anne Sexton’s Transformation with Reference to Female Protagonists in Cinderella

Literature encompasses a wide range of genres, and fairy tales hold a significant position, particularly in children's literature, as they serve as an important avenue for children to explore and familiarize themselves with the English language and culture. Anne Sexton, a renowned writer known for her introspective style, has been a subject of both acclaim and controversy. However, Sexton's poetry is deeply influenced by European culture, especially the realm of fairy tales, where she undertakes the task of reimagining well-known tales with a specific emphasis on female protagonists. This article employs a methodological approach to examine Sexton's reinterpretation of these canonical narratives, providing valuable insights into the genre itself. Sexton's collection, "Transformations," serves as a valuable resource for understanding the fairy tale genre. According to Jack Zipes, a prominent scholar in fairy tale studies, fairy tales are fictional narratives that convey moral lessons and aid in language acquisition among children. It is essential to adapt fairy tales to suit the needs of children, as they contribute to enhancing their communication skills. However, when poetry, character development, and reality intersect, a captivating juxtaposition emerges. Sexton's pessimistic perspective alters the emotional landscape of the tales, thereby transforming the moral messages conveyed in her poems. Consequently, this adaptation brings to the forefront the clash between traditional, male-centric beliefs and feminism. To provide a comprehensive assessment of the issues under scrutiny, this study thoroughly examines and analyzes the recurring tales, their archetypal elements, specific structures employed in the poems, the portrayal of fictional characters, references to folklore, and characteristic attributes present in Sexton's works. By delving into these aspects, we gain a deeper understanding of the thematic and stylistic choices made by Sexton and their implications in the context of the fairy tale genre.

Politika identit v čínských enklávách amerických měst: muzejní narace

This text deals with ethnopolitical identities as presented to visitors to Chinese enclaves by their inhabitants themselves in museums of Chinese enclaves in the United States. We focus on three locations: San Francisco, New York, and Chicago. The text briefly introduces the history of Chinese immigration and the establishment of the Chinese as a minority within the American nation. It focuses on the content of the permanent exhibitions, it describes and analyzes the forms of representing Chinese identities in these museums. At a theoretical level, we draw on the concept of identity politics. We apply a syntagmatic approach, using a method of narrative analysis of the exhibitions, comparing the sequential development of the museum narrative in the order it is intended to be presented to museum visitors. We identify the various elements of the design of the exhibitions and the themes presented. Our research was conducted during field trips of the authors between 2013–2019. The exhibitions come with a so-called canonical narrative that is linearly conceived and introduces the “harmony” of Chinese and American identities. The canonical narrative is coherently and logically conceived, the presented themes support the whole narrative. The canonical narrative illuminates the presence of Chinese immigrants as a journey from exclusion to full emancipation and recognition of their equality, with reference to cultural specifics of Chinese sociocultural identities.

Underrated, overlooked, suppressed, discarded: canonical discourse and 1980s rock music from Australia and New Zealand

ABSTRACT In canonical narratives of rock music emanating from the global North, the music of Australia and New Zealand continues to be overlooked. This article considers the international critical reception of a range of 1980s bands from Australia and New Zealand, both at the time and subsequently. The analysis shows how the music of the Antipodes largely has been rendered historically irrelevant in canonical terms, highlighting the general importance of subverting conventional narratives by giving voice to marginalized cultures and foregrounding alternative critical arguments.

Jesus and violence during Tabernacles: Wit, mercy, and accountability in John 7–8

John 7–8 narrates Jesus’s dialogues with his opponents and the crowds during the annual Jewish festival of Tabernacles. Through this sensory backdrop, Jesus makes exceptional claims both for himself and for how God’s people should respond (e.g., 8:12). Across John’s narration of Jesus’s public ministry, Jesus challenges mainstream closedness by opening covenantal relationship with God to all those who can respond accordingly to what God as Father is doing in this world through Jesus who is Christ and Son. Such confrontation peaks in John 7–8 through a particularly violent interaction between Jesus’s radical acceptance and the resulting discontent in those who prefer the status quo. At the heart of this conflagration, the intrusive encounter between Jesus and the woman ensnared by the Pharisees (7:53–8:11) models a call for mercy and unity in community amid conflict. Despite the textual instability of its foundation, this passage must be given its due as an alternative of mercy to the violence that surrounds it in the final form of John’s Gospel. The presence of this passage in John’s canonical narrative presents a powerful antidote to the chaotic violence that surrounds it.

POPULAR CINEMA AS NOSTALGIA INDUSTRY: REUNIONS, REMAKES, AND REQUELS

This article seeks to address 2021’s cathartic reunions on digital and in cinema in order to broaden a new perspective on popular cinema’s one of the offers, the nostalgic experience. This study approaches remakes, reboots, requels, sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and adaptations as reproduced works. The discussion is grounded on the idea that popular cinema’s commercial way of reproducing certain experiences and canonical narratives is dependent on proposing nostalgia. Among the commercially successful sequels in the early-2020s, reunions are observed with several functions. As a newly launched subscription video-on-demand platform, HBO Max aired three major reunions in a single year. In this context, Friends: The Reunion (2021), The Matrix Resurrections (2021), and Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts (2022) stage cathartic and nostalgic reunions. The moviegoers witnessed the ensemble of three Spider-Men from three different decades and franchises in a cathartic sequence of the worldwide highest-grossing movie of 2021, Spider-Man: No Way Home. The purpose of the study is to reveal the uptrend of nostalgia-oriented reunions to offer new discussions in cinema’s relation to nostalgia and debates on reproduction practices through a wide range of literature review collection. Therefore, these four productions are included in the scope to discuss nostalgia’s function in popular cinema, even on digital streaming platforms. While the study scans these reproduced works and their contemporary counterparts, the theoretical background is centered on memory studies to combine related discussions and ways of approaching them. Thus, this article proposes a contribution to the field by investigating the functions of reunions among sequels, requels, remakes, reboots, spin-offs, and adaptations in terms of their nostalgic qualities and commercial potential.