News
Arts Faculty News Read more from Arts Faculty News
Centre for Arts Doctoral Research Excellence Read more from Latest Announcements
Classics and Ancient History Read more from Classics News and Events
English and Comparative Literary Studies Read more from English & Comparative Literary Studies News
Film and Television Studies Read more from News
History Read more from History News
History of Art Read more from Research Events
Theatre and Performance Studies Read more from Theatre & Performance Studies News
School of Modern Languages and Cultures Read more from SMLC - News and events
Literary Studies and Sociology in Dialogue - How Imaginaries Shape Social Reality
Hartmut Rosa (Jena/Erfurt) and Elisabeth Herrmann (Warwick)
Moderator: Irina Hron (Copenhagen)
Public Event at Jonsered Manor, Gothenburg
Monday, 27th March, 13:00-16:00 (CET)
Abstract
How does social reality come into being? Where do social impulses originate and how do they enter the public sphere?
Imaginaries are at least partly constitutive for what societies are, how they develop, how they are modified and continuously negotiated. Fictional stories, whether in the form of literary texts, visual media, or music and lyrics, can be catalysts for social transformation by reflecting the present from alternative viewpoints, including looking back at the past and imagining possible futures. Fictional stories turn imaginings into possibilities, taking them into the world, bringing them to mind and prototyping possible social realities through images and narration, figures and plots. How do social imaginaries emerge? How does fiction contribute to social transformation – and how are social transformations reflected in social imaginaries? What is social energy and how is it set in motion?