Different approaches of telling stories about places and communities
Dominant Narrative (from above)
- History is told by the perspective of the dominant culture (one narrative to be told)
- Accepted as the norm
- Comprises the perspective of the majority culture
- Metanarrative or grand narrative
- Totalising narrative, experience, or account of history
Counter-narratives (from below)
- Everyday experiences of people, lived experiences
- Histories referring to the stories of minority groups
- Small stories for living environment
- Community approach
Exercise: How to "uncover" a told story?
- Task: Discover the city of Plovdiv by yourself
What to do:
1. Watch the video “Visit Plovdiv and Come with Friends!”
2. Answer the following questions:
- How the City is “narrated” – how the image(s) of the city is/are constructed?
- What is the dominant approach of telling the story – time approach, space approach, time and space approach, other?
- What are the key words used to present the city?
Support your arguments with examples.
How verbal narrative corresponds with the visual one? What are the similarities and differences?
General reflections
What we do understand and what we don’t understand about the City of Plovdiv from the video?
