Jarmila Mildorf

Bio: Jarmila Mildorf is an academic researcher from University of Paderborn. The author has contributed to research in topics: Narrative & Narratology. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 40 publications receiving 227 citations. Previous affiliations of Jarmila Mildorf include University of Stuttgart.

Thought Presentation and Constructed Dialogue in Oral Stories: Limits and Possibilities of a Cross-Disciplinary Narratology

Abstract: The disciplinary rapprochement between various disciplines across the arts and social sciences that have had an interest in narrative forms and functions has been slow and is still far from being completed. An area which has not been extensively covered yet is the question whether certain forms of third-person consciousness, i.e. the representation of the consciousness of a third party, are at all possible in oral narratives. One mode of depicting third-person consciousness in literary narratives is free indirect discourse (FID), which is commonly viewed as a dual-voiced narrative technique that entails both a reference to the thinking subject and to the narrating instance. The evaluation of FID as a literary narrative technique that is deemed less possible in oral stories results from the attribution of qualities of fictionality and factuality to the respective narrative genres and modes, whereas claims of truth-commitment and sincerity are made for spoken language. This paper discusses the methodological implications of FID for a cross-disciplinary narratology by looking at oral narratives from a sample of illness narratives on the UK’s DIPEx website. While FID can hardly be found in the spoken data, third-person consciousness is still made possible through the use of hypothesizing discourse markers and through devices such as constructed dialogue, which can be used to ascribe thoughts and feelings to other people in an indirect way. The paper demonstrates how third-person consciousness is used by speakers to come to terms with the motives behind other people’s actions. On a more abstract level, the paper explores the limits of a crossdisciplinary narratology when it comes to rigid methodological frameworks while at the same time arguing for a re-conceptualization of defining criteria such as fictionality and truth-commitment that allows for more flexibility.

“Opening up a Can of Worms”: Physicians’ Narrative Construction of Knowledge about Domestic Violence

Abstract: A major part of physicians' work consists of analyzing the symptoms a patient presents in a consultation. Doctors interpret the signs and then make a diagnosis. In a sense, they 'read the patient as text' (Hunter, 1991) and finally create their own narrative of the case. A collection of cases thus becomes the knowledge base doctors draw upon over the years. Yet, what happens if the problem the patient presents with cannot be explained in terms of the biomedical model alone? Combining insights from cognitive psychology and socio‐linguistic narrative analysis, this article investigates how doctors' stories about their experiences with patients suffering domestic violence indicate the way physicians conceptualize and construct linguistically their knowledge about the problem. 36 narratives produced by 20 general practitioners in in‐depth interviews form the basis of a close comparative analysis with special focus on evaluative devices. (Medical narratives, Domestic violence, Sociolinguistic narrative analysis, General Practitioners)

Storying Domestic Violence: Constructions and Stereotypes of Abuse in the Discourse of General Practitioners

Abstract: Globally, at least one in four women experiences domestic violence at some point in her life. This interdisciplinary study contributes to the fields of domestic abuse and narrative studis with an analysis of the narrative practices of doctors who treat abused women.

Words that Strike and Words that Comfort: Discursive Dynamics of Verbal Abuse in Roddy Doyle's The Woman Who Walked Into Doors

Abstract: Linguistic violence against women comes in many guises. Feminist linguists have shown that derogatory, demeaning speech and sexist language are used in patriarchal societies to allocate to women a place marked by muteness and degradation. Among other forms of domestic violence, verbal abuse is often neglected because it hurts psychologically and emotionally rather than physically and thus remains ‘invisible’. This paper unravels the discursive dynamics of verbal abuse in Roddy Doyle's novel The Woman Who Walked Into Doors by drawing upon sociolinguistic and literary analytical tools. A close investigation into the characters' verbal interactions, notably sexist language, slang, silencing, and dialogic frames, illuminates the subtle ways in which verbal abuse ties in with power games, social positioning and the construction of personal identities. Verbal abuse not only puts the novel's protagonist ‘into place’ but ironically it also empowers her to the extent that the adoption of abusive language offers a ...

Time and Narrative

Abstract: In the first two volumes of this work, Paul Ricoeur examined the relations between time and narrative in historical writing, fiction, and theories of literature. This final volume, a comprehensive reexamination and synthesis of the ideas developed in volumes 1 and 2, stands as Ricoeur's most complete and satisfying presentation of his own philosophy.