[Air-L] Fwd: CFP: Narrative Minds and Virtual Worlds; Tampere, Finland, May 21-22, 2013

[Frans Mäyrä]

Please feel free to distribute:

Call for Papers, abstract deadline January 31st, 2013
Narrative Minds and Virtual Worlds
Tampere, Finland, May 21st and 22nd 2013

Keynote speakers:

Marie-Laure Ryan (author of Possible Worlds, Artificial Intelligence and
Narrative Theory [1991], Narrative as Virtual Reality [2001] and Avatars of
Story [2006]; editor of Cyberspace Textuality [1999] and Narrative across
Media [2004])

Jarmila Mildorf (author of Storying Domestic Violence [2007]; editor of
Magic, Science, Technology, and Literature [2006] and Imaginary Dialogues
in English [2011])

The postclassical turn in narratology has led to 1) a new emphasis on
minds, both fictional and interpretative, and 2) the theoretical discovery
of storyworlds. These ideas come together in cognitive-theoretically
informed narratology, which is well on its way to getting to grips with the
processes of immersion and readerly orientation within the storyworld, and
also with perceptual positioning on the levels of storyworld, narration and
the actual reading process. This conference discusses, applies and tests
narratological theories of world and mind construction in different media,
ranging from literature to digital games, classroom interaction and
corporate communication.

The conference calls for papers from any relevant field of study addressing
interfaces of minds and worlds, narrative as well as virtual. Bringing
together research on different narrative and quasi-narrative media will
reveal both the medium-specific and the transmedial dynamics between inner
and outer worlds in narrative sense-making. For instance, the
narratological notions of fictional mind construction have lately been
informed by theories of spatial and temporal situatedness and its effect on
the reading process. The situation of game players immersed in a virtual
world involves both interesting similarities with as well as differences to
more prototypically narrative environments, particularly in its
prioritisation of navigation and problem-solving over empathetic
identification. Furthermore, the use of shared storyworlds as foundations
for transmedial franchises suggests that worlds may, indeed, be
translatable.

This conference is inspired by interdisciplinary and transmedial studies of
narrative as pursued by, among others, our keynote speakers Jarmila Mildorf
and Marie-Laure Ryan. We welcome papers discussing general and theoretical
issues, as well as papers focusing on particular texts or cases in any
medium. Furthermore, papers may address medium-specificity or disciplinary
boundaries as interpretative or methodological challenges. Possible topics
include, but are not limited to
   o medial and intermedial construction of minds and worlds in literature
and the everyday
   o adapting storyworlds from one medium to another
   o socially distributed minds in everyday conversation, narration and
life stories
   o the role of fiction and narration in digital games
   o misreading virtual minds in fiction
   o fictional worlds in picture books and graphic novels
   o virtual worlds and fictional minds as tools for teaching
   o game worlds between real action and imaginary spaces
   o narrative and ludic agency in game playing
   o narrative, material and visual dimensions of organisational
sense-making
   o "Theories of Mind" in different media
   o attributing minds and representing worlds in historical narratives
   o exceptional minds and bodies in fiction and the everyday
   o dream narratives as virtual worlds
   o narrative embodiment in illness narratives
   o the function of stories in marketing and brand development

Please send a 250-word abstract to Mari Hatavara (mari.hatavara[at]uta.fi)
by January 31st 2013. Be sure to give the title, author(s), affiliation(s),
and e-mail address in the same document.

The conference is organised by:
Mari Hatavara, professor of Finnish literature at the University of Tampere
School of Language, Translation and Literary Studies
Matti Hyvärinen, professor of Sociology at the University of Tampere School
of Social Sciences and Humanities
Frans Mäyrä, professor of Information Studies and Interactive Media at the
University of Tampere School of Information Sciences

-- 
Mari Hatavara
professori                   /professor
Suomen kirjallisuus          /Finnish literature
Tampereen yliopisto          /University of Tampere
Kieli-, käännös- ja          /School of Language, Translation,
kirjallisuustieteiden          and Literary Studies
yksikkö
-- 
   Frans Mäyrä, Professor, Information Studies and Interactive Media
   ** INFIM/TRIM/Game Research Lab, http://gamelab.uta.fi
   ** School of Information Sciences, SIS, www.uta.fi/sis/ **
   ** 33014 University of Tampere, Finland **
   frans.mayra at uta.fi / fransmayra at gmail.com **
   ** gms 050 3367650 / fax  03 3551 7503 **
   www.fransmayra.fi www.unet.fi www.uta.fi/~frans.mayra