Speaking of Violence: The Politics and Poetics of Narrative in Conflict ResolutionOxford University Press, 2013 M05 27 - 320 pages In the context of ongoing or historical violence, people tell stories about what happened, who did what to whom and why. Yet frequently, the speaking of violence reproduces the social fractures and delegitimizes, again, those that struggle against their own marginalization. This speaking of violence deepens conflict and all too often perpetuates cycles of violence. Alternatively, sometimes people do not speak of the violence and it is erased, buried with the bodies that bear it witness. This reduces the capacity of the public to address issues emerging in the aftermath of violence and repression. This book takes the notion of "narrative" as foundational to conflict analysis and resolution. Distinct from conflict theories that rely on accounts of attitudes or perceptions in the heads of individuals, this narrative perspective presumes that meaning, structured and organized as narrative processes, is the location for both analysis of conflict, as well as intervention. But meaning is political, in that not all stories can be told, or the way they are told delegitimizes and erases others. Thus, the critical narrative theory outlined in this book offers a normative approach to narrative assessment and intervention. It provides a way of evaluating narrative and designing "better-formed" stories: "better" in that they are generative of sustainable relations, creating legitimacy for all parties. In so doing, they function aesthetically and ethically to support the emergence of new histories and new futures. Indeed, critical narrative theory offers a new lens for enabling people to speak of violence in ways that undermine the intractability of conflict |
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action aesthetic ethics alter anchored Arendt argue better-formed story Cobb complexity conflict narratives conflict resolution practice constitute context contribute conversation create culture delegitimizing Deliberative Deliberative Democracy described destabilization discourse dynamics elaborated emergence ensure evaluative evolution field of conflict foundation frame function Gacaca courts genocide Habermas hard-liner narrative human Hutu identity immigrants interaction Journal Julio legitimacy legitimate magic realism marginalization meaning mediation Mirador Basin moral agency narra narrative practice Narrative Psychology narrative theory narrative transformation narrative violence natality negotiation normative noted Palestinian participation parties peace perpetrators persons perspective plot line political positions practitioners presumes Prince William County problem public sphere radicalized narratives Rancière rative reconciliation recontextualization reduce reflective judgments relation relationships role Rwanda siblings social constructionism Somalia speakers speaking speech storylines storytelling structure subjectivity suffering syntax tion tive totalitarianism turning points Tutsi University Press victims Winslade and Monk York