Alexander Moradi: Narratives from European-African encounters
| Termin |
Donnerstag, 13. Juni 2024, 12.15 - 13.30 Uhr |
|---|---|
| Veranstaltungsart | Workshop/Seminar |
| Reihe | Forschungsseminar "Economic History, Growth & Development" |
| Einrichtung | Wirtschaftswissenschaftlicher Bereich |
| Veranstalter | Lehrstuhl Prof. Dr. Lars Börner |
| Veranstaltungsort | Audimax, Hörsaal XXIII |
| Straße | Universitätsplatz 1 |
| PLZ/Ort | 06108 Halle (Saale) |
Beschreibung
Abstract:
Narratives embody cultural norms and values that shape human behavior. This study analyses over 450,000 pages of travel accounts by 1,876 Europeans who visited Africa from 1400 to 1900 to understand the development, diffusion, and persistence of narratives across centuries. Guided by the 'drama triangle' model, we employ advanced computational text analysis methods to systematically classify three distinct narrative roles: hero, villain, and victim. We find Europeans often portray themselves as victims, while assigning African and Arab characters the roles of victim and villain. We observe that adjective attributes of roles differ across ethnic backgrounds. Using the Evaluation-Potency-Activity (EPA) framework, we investigate how exogenous changes in `Evaluation', 'Potency' and `Activity` determine transitions between character roles. We particularly highlight how increases in 'Potency' for African characters predict their transition from victims to villains and losers. Furthermore, by mapping the network of narrative inter-dependencies among traveler authors, we shed light on the origins and persistence of these narrative structures, offering new insights into the interplay between narrative formation and economic behavior across different epochs.
Referent: Alexander Moradi (University of Bozen-Bolzano)