Room: Pinni B4113 or Zoom (Link). (Meeting ID: 668 4700 7494 Passcode: 045076)
The recording is available on Narrare’s webpage for about two weeks after the seminar session.
The research group “Suffering and Meliorism in Literature and the Philosophy of Literature” within the Centre of Excellence on Meliorist Philosophy of Suffering (MePhiS)
The research group Suffering and Meliorism in Literature and the Philosophy of Literature, part of the RCF Centre of Excellence in Meliorist Philosophy of Suffering (MePhiS, 2026–2033), investigates literature and the philosophy of literature as pathways toward a nuanced meliorist understanding of suffering. The literary-philosophical varieties of antitheodicy and the representations of meaningless suffering extend from the Book of Job through centuries of reinterpretations to modern and contemporary philosophy and/of literature. While classical works such as Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, Camus’s novels, and Simone Weil’s writings exemplify philosophical literature on suffering, the scope of literary-philosophical investigations will be extended, among other issues, to literature articulating the melioristic idea of lessening evil and increasing the good through (often barely visible) human effort. The presentation offers a brief and general introduction to the research carried out within the project.
This talk is part of Research Centre Narrare’s Narrative Studies Seminar, which is open for all interested participants. The aim of the seminar is to allow for a multi- and interdisciplinary discussion on data, methods, theories, and the state of narrative research. Sessions consist of introductory presentations by researchers from different career stages and different fields studying narratives at Tampere University (up to 20 min), and general discussion.
Narrare Seminar – Spring 2026 Programme:
17.2. Markus Laukkanen: News about future turmoil: how a hypothetical war is narrated on Finnish news-media websites
Room: Pinni B4117
3.3. Nanna Numento: From Speculation to Speculative Agency: The Intertwining of Speculative Worldbuilding and Interactive Game Mechanics in Digital Fantasy RPGs
Room: Pinni B4117
10.3. Annika Valtonen: Master Narratives and the ‘Ideal Immigrant Subject’: A Multimodal Narrative Positioning Approach (co-authored with Dorien Van De Mieroop & Melisa Stevanovic)
Room: Pinni B4117
24.3. Minna Harjula & Heikki Kokko: OTUDEM-hanke: Yhteiskuntahistoria 2020-luvun turvallistamispolitiikan vastakertomuksena
Room: Pinni B4117
14.4. Teemu Ikonen: Audionarratologia ja äänikielitaide
Room: Pinni B4113
28.4. Nanny Jolma & Anna Kuutsa: The afterlife of parliamentary storytelling in social media: The portability of narrative features in the Finnish border security debate
Room: Pinni B4113
5.5. Sari Kivistö et al.: The research group “Suffering and Meliorism in Literature and the Philosophy of Literature” within the Centre of Excellence on Meliorist Philosophy of Suffering (MePhiS)
Room: Pinni B4113
19.5. Sanna Turoma: Venäläinen imperialismi ja eurooppalaisen kolonialismin kritiikki: Nikolai Trubetzkoyn euraasialaisnarratiivit
Room: Pinni B4113
Updates and further information will be published on Narrare’s webpage.