Traditional Narrative Research Articles

What are Jews: interrogating genetic studies and the reification of race.

Scientific studies on the genetic proximity of Jews undertake to shed light on "who or what Jews really are". However, various scientists and scholars have warned that such studies reify racial thinking. This essay delineates and contextualizes the debate held between various geneticists and social scientists on the danger of reification within the Jewish context. This is mainly a debate about the impact of (traditional, religious, and Zionist) narratives on scientific research as well as on the ethical responsibility of scientists. The paper claims that such genetic studies test Jewish religious narratives against genetic research results and do not necessarily enforce old notions of distinctiveness.

Farmers and traders: two ethe of work, two conventions of storytelling in memory-based stories told by the Vilamovians about the Second World War and the post-war persecutions

The Vilamovians are an ethnic group living in the town of Wilamowice in the borderland of Silesia and Lesser Poland. Literature has presented them as a homogeneous group whose members were famous for being traders, yet in reality the Wilamowice community was divided into several social strata. Especially the two dominant ones – large farm owners and traders – represented different ethe, which influenced two storytelling conventions, one focused on trade, the other – on agriculture. These conventions are apparent in memory-based stories told by the Vilamovians. In the former, it is work that constitutes the central motif and is valued in itself; in the latter, work is only the means to an end, which is to acquire more wealth. Today, as a result of the fabulisation and folklorisation of the content disseminated in the media, the trade-oriented convention has become dominant. Meanwhile, the work-oriented convention was more popular among the older generation, and is still clearly discernible today in memory-based stories about the Volksliste and the post-war persecution of the inhabitants of Wilamowice. These stories, however, do not tell us how the Vilamovians really behaved, but about what values the narrators professed at the time of conveying the given message. Their form was influenced by the narrative tradition of the given community – be it ethnic or professional.

Postmodernism and Climate Issues: Deconstruction of Media Narratives and Environmental Communication Actions in Contemporary Urban Society

This study explores the impact of postmodernism on media narratives in climate issues, especially within the scope of communication in today's urban environments. Through a qualitative approach, this study deconstructs various media narratives on climate issues to understand their influence on the views and communicative actions of urban society. The analysis samples from various media platforms, including online news, social media, and digital publications, focusing on the years 2022-2023 to ensure data currency. The theoretical framework in this study integrates postmodernism concepts with communication theories, providing insights into the formation and reception of climate narratives by the audience. The findings indicate a shift in the way media narrates climate issues, moving from traditional narratives towards more fragmented and diverse ones, in line with postmodernism characteristics. This understanding is crucial for developing effective climate communication strategies that encourage active participation and concrete actions from city dwellers. Thereby, this study significantly contributes to climate communication research, highlighting the influence of media narratives on society's views and actions in facing climate issues within a complex and heterogeneous socio-cultural context.

“Passion, Salomé”: Decadent Transformations and Transgressions of Feminine Sensuality in Huysmans, Wilde, and Strauss

Representations of Salomé have been hued in the paradoxical characterisations of the beautifully seductive and evil femme fatale. While some artists closely aligned their depictions to this Pandorian stereotype in collusion with narrative traditions of the oppressive male gaze, others challenged it through inventive reimaginations of Salomé, unveiling glimpses of the character’s complex emotive, psychological, and sensual universe that still manages to leave spectators ambivalent and discombobulated today. This article explores the transformations of Salomé in artistic representations of the Decadence across a range of media through a comparative reading of Huysmans’ novel À Rebours (1884), Wilde’s play Salomé (1891) and Strauss’ opera Salomé (1905). The interpretive changes in her characterisations – the femme fatale par excellence, the tragically fated heroine, the transgressive Decadent artist, the self-fulfilled hedonist – uncover a weaponisation of Salomé, transforming her oppressive patriarchal environmental conditions and the sexually objectifying male gaze that have often confined her, to reveal an empowered aesthetic of Decadent transgression that questions and subverts traditional gender and power dynamics, gender identities, and sensual feminine subjectivities.

Walking, storytelling and melancholy survivals: memorialization of the ‘Troubles’ in Belfast’s City Centre

This article explores the role of walking and storytelling as a mode of memory-making in Belfast’s City Centre, a ‘shared space’ that has largely been emptied of reminders of the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland known as the ‘Troubles’. Memorialization remains a divisive and contentious process in Northern Ireland with two opposing narrative traditions and a lack of shared collective memory. In the absence of state-led and officialized memorials to the ‘Troubles’, I explore how urban heritage can be expressed in motion, through spatial stories told by place-based professionals (urban planners, architects, heritage practitioners, arts and community groups) in the City Centre. In particular, I employ David Lloyd’s idea of ‘melancholy survivals’ to describe the ways in which memories of conflict persist in the narratives we tell and in the small physical residues scattered throughout the City Centre, which we encounter through walking and spatial stories. I argue that walking go-along interviews with place-based professionals elicits storytelling that evokes a mobile mode of memorialization. I begin by discussing the context of memorialization in Belfast’s City Centre, its role during the ‘Troubles’, and its subsequent urban redevelopment as a ‘shared space’. I then map out critical discussions around my methodological framework, which considers spatial storytelling, geographies of affect and walking methods as ways to engage urban heritage in cities that have experienced conflict. This is followed by observations from the walking go-along interviews, which include stories of physical residues, the psychosomatic legacies of conflict and ways the difficult memories factor into narratives in Belfast’s City Centre.

A game-based augmented reality navigation system to support makerspace user education in a university library

PurposeA makerspace has recently been identified as an essential learning field for cultivating students’ creative and thinking abilities. Creating a makerspace service within a university library is vital, as it fosters innovation, interdisciplinary learning, practical skills, entrepreneurship and career readiness while transforming the library into a dynamic centre for hands-on education and collaboration. Nevertheless, the wide-ranging functions and uses of makerspace equipment can potentially lead to a situation where librarians are overwhelmed by their duties due to manpower constraints. Therefore, this study aims to develop a novel game-based augmented reality navigation system (GARNS) based on the Octalysis gamification framework and scaffolding theory to support makerspace user education, hoping to promote learners’ learning motivation and their immersive experience and to enhance the learning performance of makerspace user education.Design/methodology/approachWith a true experimental research method, 24 grade 11 students from a high school in Keelung City, Taiwan, were recruited to participate in the experiment on makerspace user education. Among them, ten students were randomly assigned to the experimental group using the GARNS and the other seven students were randomly assigned to a control group using the Web navigation system. The remaining seven students were assigned to a second control group using the narrative guided tour with a librarian to conduct makerspace user education.FindingsAnalytical results show that learners can achieve significant learning effectiveness using the GARNS, Web navigation system or traditional narrative guided tour with a librarian for makerspace user education. There were no significant differences in learning effectiveness and motivation neither between the GARNS group and the narrative guided tour with a librarian group nor between the Web navigation system group and the narrative guided tour with a librarian group. However, there were significant differences in learning effectiveness and motivation in terms of the value and expectation dimensions of learning motivation between the GARNS group and the Web navigation system group, and the GARNS group was significantly better than the Web navigation system group.Practical implicationsThe study’s practical implication on makerspace user education is to reduce the manpower of a university library with makerspace services by the proposed GARNS that can offer a practical solution to enhance the learning effectiveness and motivation of makerspace through immersive game-based autonomous learning. Additionally, the study’s theoretical contribution lies in its innovative combination of game-based learning and scaffolding theory, while its practical significance stems from its potential to revolutionize makerspace user education, enhance motivation and performance and influence the broader landscape of educational technology.Originality/valueThis study combines game-based learning with augmented reality tools to develop a novel GARNS, which provides an innovative and effective learning tool suitable for the characteristics of makerspace and contributes to promoting makerspace user education and diversified learning modes. Additionally, most interviewees believed that using GARNS for educating makerspace users could assist them in consistently evaluating, choosing and discovering educational tasks in a library makerspace. This study contributes to promoting the popularization of makerspace user education.

Axes to Axes: the Chronology, Distribution and Composition of Recent Bronze Age Hoards from Britain and Northern Ireland

This study explores the impact that recent Bronze Age hoard finds have had on our understanding of hoarding practices across Britain and Northern Ireland. Changes to the legislation of Treasure and the onset of the Portable Antiquities Scheme in England and Wales have produced a wealth of new information on Bronze Age hoards. Beyond a handful of studies which have focused on specific groups of hoards or the distinction between dryland/wetland deposition, however, many of these more recent finds have been overlooked. Our regional understanding of hoarding practices across Britain is also largely based on studies which are now significantly out of date. This paper aims to address this problem by providing a snapshot of hoards and hoarding practices, based on a substantial dataset of 385 hoards (containing 7210 objects) that were reported on between 1997 and 2021. Broad chronological and spatial trends in the distribution are highlighted, with precedence given to characterising these enigmatic deposits based on their size and the categories of objects within them. This investigation provides fresh insights into the selection of certain object groups – particularly axes – during certain periods and within specific regions, whilst also exploring ideas so that we might better understand the scale of metalwork deposition. This research not only demonstrates how recent hoard finds fit into traditional narratives but also how they have the potential to enhance our understanding of regional hoarding practices, offering new and exciting avenues for future research.

Deconstructing the Master Narrative: Active Learning through Decolonial Pedagogy

For most undergraduate students, history prior to college has been dominated by learning through a settler colonialism lens. Settler colonialism embodies the typical United States, master, or traditional narrative. It erases marginalized perspectives, histories, culture, and identity in favor of the white settler perspective. By overlooking the histories of minoritized individuals in the United States, students are losing out on learning important facets of history. For minority students, this also indirectly tells them that their history is not valued. This paper is structured in three sections: first, I describe settler colonialism and how it is deeply embedded in the teaching of U.S. history; second, I discuss the process of decolonizing history, teaching and learning; and lastly, the third section describes how instructors can use active learning as a decolonial pedagogy and provides recommendations for practice.

"I Love Every Part of You"

"I Love Every Part of You"

Beyond “for ever England”: Contemporary British Women’s War Poetry and the First World War Canon

Turning to the First World War patriotic narrative of “for ever England,” epito- mised by Rupert Brooke and his writing as the point of departure, this paper investigates 21st century commemorative women’s poetry written during the First World War centenary years and its subversive interaction with this traditional war narrative. This article argues that while the public discourse on war memory often turned to the idea of a “shared past” between the UK and former colonies, thus “sanitising” the history of colonial violence (as argued by Santanu Das), poems by Yrsa Daley-Ward, Malika Booker, Imtiaz Dharker, and Jenny Lewis written for commemorative anthologies effectively de-colonise the nar- rative(s) of the First World War by opening up the space for new voices and construing the image of England beyond “for ever England” in its relation to other spaces and other wars.

Brand New Oldies: Recent English Narrative Verse

A substantial amount of narrative verse has been written and published in England in the first two decades of the 21st century. Several writers, including Bernardine Evaristo, Ros Barber, Patience Agbabi, and Moniza Alvi, have written successful and well-received longer narrative poems. These poems fall into various categories: novel in poems, verse novel, and narrative collection. Five features of these texts are distinguished: the reworking of traditional and popular story materials; the predominant deployment of traditional narrative and narrational technique; accessible verse technique; an interest in past subjects and an attempt to render them available to a contemporary readership; and an adoption of non-narrative and lyric modes.

이야기판의 계승과 변주, 그리고 확장 : 유튜브의 이야기판을 중심으로

The emerging online narrative culture can be fully understood when it is examined with an awareness of the oral narrative traditions and storytelling cultures and norms that have existed in the real world. In this regard, this article aims to provide a deeper understanding of digital storytelling and narrative culture by focusing on how the experiences gained through traditional oral narrative storytelling and narrative culture are being inherited or transformed in online spaces.
 Focusing on the video platform “Youtube” in particular, we found that YouTube has technologically mediated the storytelling methods and principles found in face-to-face storytelling. However, the differences in the hyper-connected locality of the storytelling site and the multi-sensory format and enjoyment of the narrative text require different classification criteria from those used to identify the type and content of traditional storytelling.
 Therefore, we divided in YouTube's storytelling into three types according to the way stories are mainly composed: “telling,” “viewing,” and “Interacting.” These modes of online storytelling are common in that they dismantle many of the boundaries that have been established to describe traditional oral literature storytelling, such as the distinction between factuality and fiction, that between professional storytelling and amateur storytelling, the hierarchy of text/image/sound. It is necessary to examine these narrative phenomena in a more microcosmic way rather than simplifying them into a single concept or theme such as “digital storytelling.”

Close encounters vs. missed connections? A critical review of the evidence for Late Pleistocene hominin interactions in western Eurasia

Recent advances in the study of ancient DNA recovered from fossils and cave sediments have profoundly changed our views on the biological and cultural interactions between populations and lineages of fossil Homo in the Later Pleistocene of Eurasia. A spatiotemporally complex picture emerges, with multiple population admixture and replacement events. Focusing on the evidence from Western Eurasia, we consider here how the mapping out of between-species interactions based on fossil and material cultural evidence is being replaced by a broader approach. Traditional narratives about human migrations and the biological and/or cultural advantages of our own species over the Neanderthals are now giving way to the study of the biological and cultural dynamics of past human populations and the nature of their interactions in time and space.

Trapped in The Past: The Decline of Italian Olive Groves in the Face of Traditional Visions and Policies, Emerging Challenges and Innovation

Italy has long been a key player in olive crop production, but the sector is currently facing an unprecedented crisis. This is evident by shrinking cultivated areas, farms, production levels, and investments. Multiple factors contributed to this decline, including traditional cultivation practices, limited innovation and competitiveness, siloed-oriented policies, landscape protection measures, and unsustainable agricultural systems. Phytosanitary issues, such as the spread of Xylella fastidiosa and the effects of climate change and drought, further compounded these challenges. Over the last decade, the sector has undergone preservation efforts focused on the perpetuation of traditional narratives and implementing policies to protect smallholder farmers, old cultivars, and safeguard traditional agri-food products. However, these approaches hinder the sector’s ability to adapt and compete in the market, perpetuating stagnation rather than driving the necessary changes. To reverse this decline, the olive sector must undergo necessary evolution, as seen in other sectors, such as viticulture and tree crops. This entails embracing a comprehensive strategy encompassing research and development, infrastructure investment, the promotion of modern cultivation techniques, and policies that support the sector’s evolution. Without such measures, the future of Italy’s olive industry remains uncertain, with significant implications for its cultural heritage and economy. Italy must recognize the economic and cultural consequences of continued decline and take immediate action for long-term viability.

Titoizam protiv nauke: primer „kritičkog osvrta“ Zorana Janjetovića

The paper addresses the phenomenon of relativization, denial, and marginalization of significant historical facts from the period of socialist Yugoslavia in order to defend the stereotypical image of that era that exists today. Using Zoran Janjetović’s text from the first issue of the journal Tokovi istorije in 2023 as an example, the paper examines the mechanisms used in domestic historiography to ensure that historical facts do not threaten the traditional narrative about the history of federal Yugoslavia, which was formed during the League of Communists’ one-party dictatorship.

The Wapping Baptists: Murky Origins and the Silence of John Spilsbery

ABSTRACT The Wapping Baptist church has often been referred to as the oldest Baptist church in London. Historians have confidently placed its origins as early as 1633 when a small group of those adopting believer’s baptism departed from the semi-separatist Jacob-Lathrop-Jessey church, then soon to be pastored by the influential John Spilsbery. However, there is no primary source evidence connecting those of this early exodus to the later Wapping Baptists, and similarly, there is no evidence to suggest that Spilsbery was ever at Wapping (the first suggestion not appearing until 1808). This article will not, unfortunately, clarify the Wapping church origins – they remain murky and obscure – however, it will raise doubt surrounding the traditional narrative.

The cultivation system of cross-media narrative ability of scriptwriter talent based on cluster model

Abstract The arrival of the era of big data and integrated media has changed the way of media communication and broken the original single media narrative model. The interaction and communication between traditional media and emerging media have formed a new paradigm of narrative, i.e., cross-media narrative. Based on the purpose of studying the cross-media narrative ability cultivation system of screenwriting art talents, this paper analyzes the market growth of cross-media narrative works in the era of integrated media and the audience’s perceptions of cross-media narrative works such as IP adaptations using the K-means clustering method. From 2018 to 2021, the market share of cross-media narrative works grew from 21.1% to 35.3%, while traditional single-media narrative works declined by 34.76%. Faced with the surge of transmedia narrative works, 29.5% of viewers think the stories are unattractive, too homogeneous, and lack freshness. Another 24.6% of viewers think that the plot lacks originality and only copies novels. Another 33.2% of viewers think there is plagiarism and piracy. The current cross-media narrative works still have many problems, such as rough production and a lack of polished plots. The education of film and television scriptwriting should focus on the cultivation of cross-media narrative quality, the enhancement of cross-media narrative ability, and the training of cross-media narrative skills for scriptwriting talents to cultivate high-level applied scriptwriting talents who can connect with the industry.

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.

(Re)Visiting the Traumatised Indian Matriarch Through Contemporary Retellings: A Psycho-Cultural Exploration

The Mahabharata (composed in Sanskrit sometime between 400 BC and 400 AD), is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. It has been used as a source of inspiration for various literary, artistic, and cultural expressions, and its themes and characters have been reinterpreted to reflect contemporary political and social concerns. This has led to the creation of new interpretations and revisions of the epic, which have challenged traditional narratives and added new perspectives to the epic’s cultural significance. Focusing on Kavita Kané ‘s The Fisher Queen’s Dynasty, the paper suggests that the trauma experienced by Satyavati in her infancy shaped her character and her actions as the Queen of Hastinapur. The author analyses the influence of trauma in her life and how it led to her determination to re-establish a powerful clan. The author’s perspective offers a unique interpretation of Satyavati’s character and highlights the importance of considering the impact of traumatic experiences on an individual’s life and behaviour. The protagonist’s abandonment by her father was a traumatic event that influenced her emotional fabric and perception of the world. She was constantly haunted by a past that fuelled her insecurities and anxieties. The paper analyses this modern narrative representation of female desire for power and autonomy (which is repressed by the patriarchy) and how this desire can originate in past traumatic experiences.

Identifying vulnerability to human trafficking in Bangladesh: An ecosystem approach using weak‐signal analysis

AbstractWe present an ecosystem approach to analyze open‐source data to identify populations vulnerable to human trafficking and to reveal underlying causal relationships. In the case of Bangladesh, our analysis suggests combinations of indicators that are highly predictive of human trafficking. The traditional narrative that poverty and unemployment are the main drivers for human trafficking may be an oversimplification. We find many areas where vulnerability is highest within lower‐middle to middle‐class societies with (a) moderate levels of income and education, (b) adherence to traditional gender norms of a male‐dominated patriarchal society, and (c) access to an urban center.