Taking as its point of departure Nelson Goodman's theory of symbol systems as delineated in his seminal book "Ways of Worldmaking", this volume gauges the possibilities and perspectives offered by the worldmaking approach as a model for the study of culture. Its main objectives are to explore the usefulness and scope of the approach for the study of culture and to supplement Goodman's philosophy of worldmaking with a number of complementary disciplinary perspectives, literary and cultural approaches, and new questions and applications. It focuses on three key issues or concepts which illuminate ways of worldmaking and their interdisciplinary relevance and ramifications, viz. (1) theoretical approaches to ways of worldmaking, (2) the impact of media on ways of worldmaking, and (3) narratives as ways of worldmaking. The volume serves to demonstrate how specific media and narratives affect the worlds that are created, and shows how these worlds are established as socially relevant. It also illustrates the extent to which ways of worldmaking are imbued with cultural values, and thus inevitably implicated in power relations.

Though the phenomenon known as "unreliable narration" or "narrative unreliability" has received a lot of attention during the last two decades, narratological research has mainly focused on its manifestations in narrative fiction, particularly in homodiegetic or first-person narration. Except for film, forms and functions of unreliable narration in other genres, media and disciplines have so far been relatively neglected. The present volume redresses the balance by directing scholarly attention to disciplines and domains that narratology has so far largely ignored. It aims at initiating an interdisciplinary approach to, and debate on, narrative unreliability, exploring unreliable narration in a broad range of literary genres, other media and non-fictional text-types, contexts and disciplines beyond literary studies. Crossing the boundaries between genres, media, and disciplines, the volume acknowledges that the question of whether or not to believe or trust a narrator transcends the field of literature: The issues of (un)reliability and (un)trustworthiness play a crucial role in many areas of human life as well as a wide spectrum of academic fields ranging from law to history, and from psychology to the study of culture.

Though the phenomenon known as "unreliable narration" or "narrative unreliability" has received a lot of attention during the last two decades, narratological research has mainly focused on its manifestations in narrative fiction, particularly in homodiegetic or first-person narration. Except for film, forms and functions of unreliable narration in other genres, media and disciplines have so far been relatively neglected. The present volume redresses the balance by directing scholarly attention to disciplines and domains that narratology has so far largely ignored. It aims at initiating an interdisciplinary approach to, and debate on, narrative unreliability, exploring unreliable narration in a broad range of literary genres, other media and non-fictional text-types, contexts and disciplines beyond literary studies. Crossing the boundaries between genres, media, and disciplines, the volume acknowledges that the question of whether or not to believe or trust a narrator transcends the field of literature: The issues of (un)reliability and (un)trustworthiness play a crucial role in many areas of human life as well as a wide spectrum of academic fields ranging from law to history, and from psychology to the study of culture.

Taking as its point of departure Nelson Goodman's theory of symbol systems as delineated in his seminal book "Ways of Worldmaking", this volume gauges the possibilities and perspectives offered by the worldmaking approach as a model for the study of culture. Its main objectives are to explore the usefulness and scope of the approach for the study of culture and to supplement Goodman's philosophy of worldmaking with a number of complementary disciplinary perspectives, literary and cultural approaches, and new questions and applications. It focuses on three key issues or concepts which illuminate ways of worldmaking and their interdisciplinary relevance and ramifications, viz. (1) theoretical approaches to ways of worldmaking, (2) the impact of media on ways of worldmaking, and (3) narratives as ways of worldmaking. The volume serves to demonstrate how specific media and narratives affect the worlds that are created, and shows how these worlds are established as socially relevant. It also illustrates the extent to which ways of worldmaking are imbued with cultural values, and thus inevitably implicated in power relations.

Ritual and narrative are pivotal means of human meaning-making and of ordering experience, but the close interrelationship between them has not as yet been given the attention it deserves. How can models and categories from narrative theory benefit the study of ritual, and what can we gain from concepts of ritual studies in analysing narrative? This book brings together a wide range of disciplinary perspectives including literary studies, archaeology, biblical and religious studies, and political science. It presents theoretical explorations as well as in-depth case studies of ritual and narrative in different media and historical contexts.

Der Band "Konzepte der Kulturwissenschaften" bietet Orientierung in einem interdisziplinaren Diskussionsfeld, das inzwischen selbst fur Fachleute kaum noch uberschaubar ist. Er informiert uber die gegenwartigen kulturwissenschaftlichen Diskussionen - insbesondere in den Literaturwissenschaften - und gibt einen systematischen und umfassenden UEberblick uber die verschiedenen Ansatze wie Kultursemiotik, Kulturanthropologie und New Historicism. Weitere Kapitel widmen sich der Medienwissenschaft, kulturwissenschaftlicher Geschlechterforschung, Fragen des kulturellen Gedachtnisses oder interkultureller Kommunikation.