Current Projects

Stories and narratives are a fundamental part of groups, communities and societies. The possibility of a common reference to experiences and events that are felt to be important or declared to be central gives rise to an idea of shared history that is central to the constitution of groups and communities. Many of the stories and narratives are passed on in living together without any reflection on them; rather, a common cultural asset is assumed. The self-evident nature of such points of reference and transmission is annulled precisely where the possibility of shared reference is taken for granted.

Newcomers and attributions

On the one hand, the common reference does not seem possible if there was no participatory growing into the cultural environment, i.e. if someone foreign enters the community as a "newcomer". Secondly, a high linguistic ability and intellectual/rational grasp of the stories and narratives is often assumed for a common reference. On the one hand, this attribution excludes all those who find a language barrier; at the same time, it often excludes people with "intellectual impairments", who are denied the ability to comprehend and reproduce stories.

Idea of the Project

The idea of the project starts from two points: Firstly, it is assumed that the corpus of stories and narratives to which reference can be made together does not consist solely of the resumption of the traditional. Rather, although references are made to traditional elements in living together, these are connected in an active togetherness with current events, new experiences, experiences and other stories. The conception of stories and narratives of a community as a constantly performed re-enactment and re-enactment makes it possible to include newcomers in the production of common possibilities of reference, to share stories and narratives, to multiply them and to make them accessible in a different way.

The second starting point is the question of how these stories and narratives are passed on, told, performed. Detached from the abstraction of the written word, a supposedly necessary high level of language and reflection for comprehension and transmission, diverse performative forms of engagement with and performance of the stories enable participation in shared "storytelling" in an inclusive form beyond language boundaries or discussions about intellectual abilities.