“Narrative”, by Richard Kearney

In the article “Narrativa” (Narrative), published in the journal Educação e Realidade, Richard Kearney approaches narrative from Aristotle’s concern with understanding narratives as ways of understanding the human condition. From there, in dialogue with Ricoeur, Rorty and MacIntyre, he builds on the concept of narrativity to develop a view of the “resistance to narrativity” of scientistic discursive models. The author discusses the clash between these models, which value objectivity and detachment, often in reductionist ways, and the role of what he calls “narrative knowledge”. To do so, he contrasts Aristotle’s Poetics with the thought of contemporary authors, focusing on hermeneutics and paying special attention to the relations between narrative and memory, fiction and history, catharsis and testimony, narrative identity and moral responsibility.

It is a thought-provoking text that raises interesting and potentially rich discussions, and it can be accessed on the website of the journal Educação e Realidade.

Reference:

KEARNEY, Richard. Narrativa. Educ. Real., Porto Alegre, v. 37, n. 2, p. 409-438, May/Aug. 2012. Available at: https://seer.ufrgs.br/educacaoerealidade/article/view/30354