For the past two years, researchers from around Germany have investigated and discussed 'narrative liminality' in a network funded by the German Research Foundation. As part of their collaboration, they have explored and theorized the boundaries and interrelations between the symbolic forms of narrative, play, data, ritual, spectacle, and others. On October 10-12, 2019, this work culminated in a conference on the topic "Beyond Narrative: Literature, Culture, and the Borderlands of Narrativity," organized by American Studies Leipzig faculty and convened at Leipzig's University Library.
Attendants of the conference heard keynote addresses by Jared Gardner (Ohio State), Caroline Levine (Cornell), and Maurice S. Lee (Boston), as well as presentations from scholars around the globe probing into different understandings of narrative liminality and exploring what it means for a text to foreground meaning-making potentials other than narrative. The members of the Narrative Liminality network, in turn, presented their research in a poster session that allowed for a hands-on exchange of ideas among the network members and the presenters and guests.
The conference was attended by about 40 people and featured lively discussions and chats. The presentations and keynotes have also been recorded. We invite you to watch these videos on the conference website: http://www.narrative-liminality.de/beyond-narrative.