Storytalk and complex constructions of nonhuman agency

IF 0.9 4区文学 Q3 COMMUNICATION

Narrative Inquiry Pub Date : 2022-06-30 DOI:10.1075/ni.21062.toi

Heidi Toivonen, Marco Malvezzi Caracciolo

引用次数: 3

Abstract

Recent work in environmental philosophy has uncoupled the notion of agency from the human domain, arguing that the efficacy of nonhuman entities and processes can also be construed as a form of “agency.” In this paper, we study discursive constructions of nonhuman agency as they appear in a set of interviews revolving around fictional narratives. The participants were asked to read microfiction engaging with the nonhuman perspectives of entities such as a melting glacier or an endangered tree species. The analysis of the interviews centers on “complex” attributions of nonhuman agency – that is, attributions that involve a combination of agencies attributed to the nonhuman. We show that these complex attributions emerge more frequently in discussing the story (what we call the “storytalk”) than elsewhere in the interviews. We also explore the way in which such complex constructions of nonhuman agency challenge widespread assumptions about the natural world.

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说书与非人能动性的复杂建构

最近在环境哲学领域的工作将代理的概念与人类领域脱钩，认为非人类实体和过程的功效也可以被解释为“代理”的一种形式。在本文中，我们研究了非人类代理的话语结构，因为它们出现在一组围绕虚构叙事的采访中。参与者被要求阅读涉及冰川融化或濒危树种等实体的非人类视角的微电影。访谈的分析集中在非人类代理的“复杂”归因上，即涉及非人类代理组合的归因。我们发现，与采访中的其他地方相比，这些复杂的归因在讨论故事（我们称之为“故事谈话”）时出现得更频繁。我们还探索了这种复杂的非人类代理结构如何挑战对自然世界的广泛假设。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Narrative Inquiry Multiple-

CiteScore

2.10

自引率

14.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Narrative Inquiry is devoted to providing a forum for theoretical, empirical, and methodological work on narrative. Articles appearing in Narrative Inquiry draw upon a variety of approaches and methodologies in the study of narrative as a way to give contour to experience, tradition, and values to next generations. Particular emphasis is placed on theoretical approaches to narrative and the analysis of narratives in human interaction, including those practiced by researchers in psychology, linguistics and related disciplines.