Abstracts
Abstract
How would it portend to analytical contextualization as well as specific theorization when instances where narrative kernels, once weaved into alternative epistemologies, make their way into, and become (re-)”plotted” on an inherently political platform, a session of state Parliament? Motivated by such an inquiry, the present multidisciplinary paper develops its theoretical argument by interrogating the notions of “counter-narrating” and “counter-narrative” cast on the intertwined conceptual landscape of forensics, tracking, and suspicion. The theoretical discussion is advanced further by developing the notions of productive suspicion and contra-plotting. On analytical level, the present chapter maintains that the narrative structure of some parliamentary discourses (presentations, Q&As) may operate much in the same manner as an anonymous forum thread or a reply chain in news’ commentaries. In undertaking this multidisciplinary theoretical discussion and analysis, the aim of this paper is to inform and expand the scholarship on counter-narratives and, in particular, to further solidify the conceptual aspects of the act, or practice, of counter-narrating.
Keywords:
- contra-plotting; productive suspicion; folk forensics; counter-narrating; MV Estonia
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Appendices
Biographical note
Siim Sorokin is a Research Fellow in Cultural Studies and DigitalNarratology at the University of Tartu, Institute of Cultural Researchand a member of the Research Group Narrative, Culture, and Cognition(NCC) (PI: prof. dr. Marina Grishakova; https://ncc.ut.ee). Their mainresearch field involves online discourses of sense-making in socialmedia communities (multidisciplinary perspective on narrative plottingin digital discourse practices; fictional character and person engagementthrough the lens of materialist and non-idealist philosophies of mind).They have published in high-profile national and international journals(e.g., Humanities, Popular Inquiry: The Journal of the Aesthetics ofKitsch, Camp and Mass Culture), and in international edited volumes.Their chapter on the relationship of contra-plotting and narrative co-construction is currently under review at Ohio UP for the forthcomingedited volume Narrative Co-Construction: Author-Audience Interactions and Narrative Theory (Malcah et al., eds.). Sorokin has alsoco-authored publications with prof. Grishakova and other members ofthe NCC (Frontiers of Narrative Studies, Sign System Studies, Futures).Sorokin is in the process of conceptualizing and preliminary drafting oftheir monograph on digital practices of narrative engagement andplotting.
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