Members of the Narrative Liminality research network presented a number of talks at the annual conference of the Society for the Study of Narrative, held from May 30 to June 1, 2019, in Pamplona, Spain.
Network members Katja Kanzler and Stefan Schubert convened a panel on "Narrative and Play: Exchanges, Interfaces, Borderlands" that featured presentations by themselves as well as two further speakers, Sophie Spieler (Leipzig) and Maria Sulimma (Duisburg-Essen). The panel's overall lineup thus included the following talks:
-
"'This game is not meant for you': HBO’s Westworld at the Crossroads of Narrative and Play" (Katja Kanzler)
-
"Play by Paratext: Television Narration, Seriality, and Interactivity" (Maria Sulimma)
-
"'It's Not a Happy Game': Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch, Netflix, and the Politics of Transmedial Play" (Sophie Spieler)
-
"Choose Your Own Identity: Playful Life Writing in the Autobiography of Neil Patrick Harris" (Stefan Schubert)
In addition, network members Sebastian M. Herrmann and Michaela Beck contributed individual presentations to other panels: Sebastian M. Herrmann talked about "Half Data, Half Literature: Catalog Rhetoric as Narratively Liminal Form," and Michaela Beck discussed "Repetition, Rhythm, 'Lyric Progression': Lyrical Strategies in 'We' Narratives."
Overall, the annual Narrative conference thus proved to be a very productive context to spread and discuss the network's thoughts about the borderlands of narrative and other symbolic forms, to theorize them further, and to exchange ideas with experts in the field of narrative studies.
