Crisis of Narration

Narratives produce the ties that bind us. They create community, eliminate contingency and anchor us in being. And yet in our contemporary information society, where everything has become arbitrary and random, storytelling becomes storyselling and narratives lose their binding force. Whereas narratives create community, storytelling brings forth only a fleeting community - the community of consumers. No amount of storytelling could recreate the fire around which humans gather to tell each other stories. That fire has long since burnt out. It has been replaced by the digital screen, which separates people rather than bringing them together. Byung-Chul Han, one of the most perceptive cultural theorists of contemporary society, dissects this crisis with exceptional insight and flair.

List of contents

Preface
From Narration to Information
The Poverty of Experience
The Narrated Life
Bare Life
The Disenchantment of the World
From Shocks to Likes
Theory as Narrative
Narration as Healing
Narrative Community
Storyselling
Notes

About the author

Byung-Chul Han is the author of more than 20 books including The Burnout Society, Saving Beauty and The Scent of Time.

Product details

• Authors: Byung-Chul Han
• Assisted by: Daniel Steuer (Translation), Steuer Daniel (Translation)
• Publisher: Polity Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.02.2024
• EAN: 9781509560431
• ISBN: 978-1-5095-6043-1
• No. of pages: 100
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 210 mm x 1 mm
• Subjects: Education and learning > Teaching preparation > Vocational needs; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PERFORMING ARTS / General, Philosophy, PHILOSOPHY / Movements / General, Other performing arts, Topics in philosophy