The politics of storytelling : violence, transgression, and intersubjectivity

Hannah Arendt argued that the "political" is best understood as a power relation between private and public realms, and that storytelling is a vital bridge between these realms - a site where individualized passions and shared views are contested and recombined. In this book, Jackson explores and expands Arendt's ideas through a cross-cultural analysis of storytelling that includes Kuranko stories from Sierra Leone, Aboriginal stories of the stolen generation, stories recounted before the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and stories of refugees, renegades and war veterans. Focusing on the violent and volatile conditions under which stories are and aren't told, and exploring the various ways in which narrative reworkings of reality enable people to symbolically alter subject-object relations, Jackson shows how storytelling may restore to the intersubjective fields of self and other, self and state, self and cosmos, and the conditions of viable sociality. Hannah Arendt Argued That The 'political' Is Best Understood As A Power Relation Between Private And Public Realms, And That Storytelling Is A Vital Bridge Between These Realms - A Site Where Individualised Passions And Shared Views Are Contested And Interwoven. In His New Book, Michael Jackson Explores And Expands Arendt's Ideas Through A Cross-cultural Analysis Of Storytelling That Includes Kuranko Stories From Sierra Leone, Aboriginal Stories Of The Stolen Generation, Stories Recounted Before The South African Truth And Reconciliation Commission, And Stories Of Refugees, Renegades, And War Veterans. Focusing On The Violent And Volatile Conditions Under Which Stories Are And Are Not Told, And Exploring The Various Ways In Which Narrative Reworkings Of Reality Enable People To Symbolically Alter Subject-object Relations, Jackson Shows How Storytelling May Restore To The Intersubjective Fields Of Self And Other, Self And State, Self And Cosmos, The Conditions Of Viable Sociality. The Book Concludes In A Reflexive Vein, Exploring The Interface Between Public Discourse And Private Experience.--book Jacket. 1. Displacements. The Stories That Shadow Us. 'you Never Saw Your Own Faces': Reflections On Privacy And Publicity In The Lives Of Refugees. In Extremis: Refugee Stories/refugee Lives. Displacement, Suffering, And The Critique Of Cultural Fundamentalism -- 2. Returns. Preamble. Retaliation And Reconciliation. From The Tragic To The Comic. Prevented Successions -- 3. Histories. Preamble. The Social Life Of Stories. Storytelling And Critique. The Singular And The Shared. Michael Jackson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 297-316) And Index. Hannah Arendt argued that the "political" is best understood as a power relation between private and public realms, and that storytelling is a vital bridge between these realms - a site where individualised passions and shared views are contested and recombined. In his new book, Michael Jackson explores and expands Arendt's ideas through a cross-cultural analysis of storytelling that includes Kuranko stories from Sierra Leone, Aboriginal stories of the stolen generation, stories recounted before the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and stories of refugees, renegades, and war veterans. Focusing on the violent and volatile conditions under which stories are and are not told, and exploring the various ways in which narrative reworkings of reality enable people to symbolically alter subject-object relations, Jackson shows how storytelling may restore to the intersubjective fields of self and other, self and state, self and cosmos, the conditions of viable sociality. The book concludes in a reflexive vein, exploring the interface between public discourse and private experience.