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Jodi Picoult. How a sentence can tell a story

Emma Parfitt — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 09:26:00 +0000

Jodi Picoult, I love her writing.

I was stopped in my tracks today by this humble sentence about a character’s eyes from Jodi Picoult’s The Book of Two Ways:

“They made me think of the heart of a glacier, of how, even when you touch dry ice with your bare skin, you cannot let go even if you try.”(p.18)

Egyptian hieroglyphs

She’d already won me over at this stage with her depictions of Egyptian hieroglyphs and history and references to IndianaJones. What I love about this sentence is the sensory and emotional experience. I’m sick of reading she/he had green or grey eyes when the majority of people have brown, followed by blue (in certain cultural contexts). So blue eyes, check, while avoiding the cliche’s of a lake, the sky, etc. Double check! We instead get treated to ice reflecting the sky in its centre in a form of a glacier. Making me feel the character’s cold disinterest in me.

Word choice

Then she choses the word ‘dry’ reinforcing this lack of life, and yet ‘with your bare skin’ brings to mind the sensual. Exactly. The women is describing an ex-lover. Thus, being stuck to the ice (‘you cannot let go’) is more about tongue and lolly freeze. We are transported to a place of shivery recognition of the attraction she is describing. It wasn’t a mistake Picoult used ‘heart’ after all. She does not want to become unstuck from this man. As a reader, I assume at this point as I haven’t read further, the story will bring them into contact once more. No spoilers here. Combined, physical, emotional and narrative connections work together in one simple sentence. Doesn’t feel so simple after all now, does it?

Continued reading …

Okay, excuse me, I have to go and read some more …

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Storytelling research book (book announcement)

Emma Parfitt — Thu, 24 Aug 2017 13:09:00 +0000

Yay!

I am happy to announce that Palgrave MacMillian will be publishing my book on storytelling research at the end of next year. This has involved 6 months of hard work, rethinking and amazingly kind reviews and suggestions (some by the fabulous Jack Zipes).

The book will be published as part of a special series: Palgrave Studies in Alternative Education.

Photo credit: guvendemir (link to artist no longer available).

I think one of the difficulties will be finding an appropraite cover image as so many searches have resulted in primary children reading books, rather than secondary school aged youth listening to a tale. Any photographers or if you know a photographer with an appropriate image for sale please let me know.

Working book synopsis:

This book explores young people’s lives through fairy tales to demonstrate our complex relationship with storytelling including the emotional, behavioural and social aspects of story. Young people, learning & storytelling… provides excerpts from young people’s conversations following storytelling performances in secondary schools in the UK. The contents are based on storytelling research of international significance when considering the benefits of story and storytelling for learning; the interdisciplinary study of narrative; and the interaction of different narrative forms with young people’s agency (their ability to act independently and to make their own choices).

The book has two key aims, (1) to demonstrate through a unique “storytelling space” method young peoples’ complex relationship with story and their surroundings, and, (2) to make a case for the benefits of storytelling for learning and supporting interpersonal and critical thinking skills within the classroom.

It is for an educated reader with an interest in fairy tales, literature and storytelling or gaining an insight into young people’s lives, and in addition, for professionals such as: educators (from early childhood to secondary and higher education), people working in theatre, performance and drama, or those who are utilising storytelling in their work as a therapeutic tool.

The journey

The journey taken through research-based discussion and interdisciplinary theory will lead readers to reflect on the myriad of ways in which our lives connect to story. Educators and researchers can benefit from a deeper understanding of the stories that are told/read to children and the importance of discussing what topics children feel are important in those stories. In other words, to consider what lessons stories hold: the ‘civilizing effect’ of storytelling.

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Arts exhibition. Fargo ‘artists and academics’ exhibition 26th of November (10am to 6pm)

Emma Parfitt — Thu, 26 May 2016 08:26:00 +0000

Arts exhibition information.

An arts exhibition … To celebrate Coventry’s bid for the City of Culture in 2017 the University of Warwick and Fargo village are bringing artists and academics together. We are creating an exhibition of local artists work. The exhibition will invite applications from 17 artists (from all mediums and crafts) and 17 PhD students at the University of Warwick. The artists will create pieces based on the research ideas of PhD students from the University of Warwick.

Why take part in this arts exhibition?

This exciting exhibition is a chance to bring people together with the aim of closing the art-science divide. It opens the academic world to the community, from an internationally diverse set of students and subjects.

It is also a different way of communicating research in a creative way. Thus demythicizing the idea that research outputs from theoretical to practical cannot be communicated to everyone. Knowledge, like art, should be accessible to all.

Let’s make art!

The resulting artistic creations will be displayed alongside short paragraphs describing the PhD inspirations. Visitors will be offered the chance to purchase the artists’ work thereby supporting local art and culture.

Are you an artist who would like to promote your work? Would you be up to the challenge of creating a piece of art inspired by student work at the University of Warwick? If the answers to those questions are yes then we would love to hear from you.

The plan

We are planning an exhibition at Fargo Village, Coventry, to display the work of local artists inspired by research. Open to all mediums and crafts. There is the opportunity not just to be creative and promote yourself but to sell your work at the exhibition.

A commitment is required for producing work for the exhibition. At least one initial meeting/contact with a research student will take place. I am currently in the process of raising funds, hopefully for £100 to £200 materials/supplies for each artist. This money is not guaranteed I will update this blog if that changes.

Deadline extended: 31st August 2016. To express your interest please send a short summary about yourself, along with a note of your preferred medium/craft. Also send your name and contact information to e.l.parfitt@warwick.ac.uk, or Emma Parfitt, C/O Sociology Department, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL. Pictures of your previous work would be appreciated.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Students!

If you are a research student would you like the chance for your PhD thesis to inspire a piece of art? No experience required. This is an opportunity to engage non-academics with your work, open to all PhD students from first to final year.

Commitment required: You should be prepared to talk about your work in lay person’s terms to an artist, and we also hope you can attend the final exhibition.

So, to express your interest please send a short summary of your research, along with your name and contact information by the 30th of June to e.l.parfitt@warwick.ac.uk clearly stating your department.

Emma Parfitt has submitted her PhD in oral storytelling at Warwick University and has been awarded an IAS Early Careers Fellowship, and an IATL strategic grant to do research with previous participants of Acting Out, a Belgrade Theatre storytelling project. If you have done any drama work with the Belgrade more information can be found here about their work.

This event is being supported by Fargo Village and funded by The Culture, Media and Creativity fund, Sociology Department, University of Warwick, and the generous donations from Warwick Alumni.

Who is Emma?

As an introvert haunting the corners of storytelling festivals, it’s incredibly difficult to track Emma down. She’s best known for writing Scottish fiction about working-class women and communities and their misrepresented lives.You can find her recent book A Friendship of Thistles here.

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Teachers’ Views on Returning Schools: ‘A trampoline to future opportunities’

Emma Parfitt — Fri, 06 Mar 2015 11:13:00 +0000

5th March, 4-6pm, Reinvention Centre at Westwood, Warwick Campus

[Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexreyes/]

Dr Analia Meo from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, came to discuss a short documentary called Teachers’ Views on Returning Schools. The Film looks at the experiences and views of teachers and young people at schools in Buenos Aires, which cater for kids who have been excluded from education.

In Buenos Aires (2002) a national education policy was created to keep young people in secondary school education. As a result all inclusive schools were set up in 2004. These were experimental. The idea being that they would transfer the knowledge gained back from the school system to shape educational policy. Ten years later their work is not acknowledged. These returning schools are invisible to the wider education system the hoped to influence.

During the film one phrase from a teacher struck me, she said, that their school was ‘an institution that keeps asking questions.’ These are schools that believe in the relationships between students and teachers. Social context and individual learning is their main focus rather than a National Curriculum. This is not without issues, but the students feel supported, and there is less ‘acting out’ say that UK films within exclusion units in the UK where pupils are placed who are felt unteachable, rather than trying to adjust and ask what can we do to get these students involved in their own education. It is a failing of the system rather than the student.

In the discussion that followed the film Dr Analía Meo said that rather than coming from a critical pedagogy perspective (see the work of Paulo Freire), teachers were more concerned with the right of every student to have a good education. The school was not a place to transform society, but one to provide young people with options into society. Education is viewed as ‘a trampoline to future opportunities’ said Dr Meo.

Dr Meo expressed the tensions that exist between research and creating a documentary. A film is not a critical paper. Sociologists have an ethical responsibility. So different choices are made in creating a film than what the research focus is. The role of the film is really a trigger for discussion and dialogue.

You can now view the film on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGyeSiYeT4g&feature=youtu.be This film was made possible through collaboration with many people volunteering their time.

Event organised by Dr Cath Lambert (Sociology, Warwick), and supported by the Department of Sociology’s Culture, Media and Creativity research cluster.

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The Well at the World’s End: Storytelling, Health & Well-being (Fri 4th July)

Emma Parfitt — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 15:44:00 +0000

My trip to the conference (Well at the World’s End) and the Beyond the Boarders storytelling festival inspired the following short piece which I dedicate to everyone present this year.

[Picture from Redbubble.com]

Memories beside the sea – a micro story

The trees watched the people as they approached; but the people weren’t aware that the trees were watching. For time unmeasured the trees of the grove danced with the wind beside the sea. One day some people came. The trees didn’t understand why. The figures looked like small saplings to the trees. Saplings that pounded their roots on the ground but not in the earth; that drank water but not with their roots; that sang but not with the liquefied earth that the trees felt effortlessly flow through their trunks and branches. These saplings pounded the earth and drank water until they couldn’t walk, and sang until they couldn’t talk. And when the sun had set and risen three times the saplings, being uprooted, left for another place. The trees saw what the people did not know. The trees remembered that one day people came and may return to share their grove beside the sea. Until then the trees of the grove danced with the wind beside the sea.

Introduction

Amidst the ancient stone walls of St Donat’s Castle, with the sea stretching out beyond the large glass windows, a gathering of minds unfolded. We pulled our chairs close, and the air buzzed with anticipation. The topic? Stories—those elusive threads that weave through our lives, connecting us to meaning, metaphor, and each other. Organized by Steven Killick (Cardiff) and Alette Willis (Edinburgh), this event promised to unravel the future of storytelling research.

1. Reinventing Presentations

The day began with a hiccup—the dreaded PowerPoint glitch. But necessity breeds innovation. On the spot, I reinvented my presentation, shedding the digital crutch. Perhaps it was serendipity; my impromptu delivery felt more authentic, more alive. Sometimes, the unplanned path leads to richer pastures.

2. The Power of Connection

Alette Willis captured the essence of the morning session in a single word: connect. Storytelling, she asserted, enables connections. In a world fractured by disconnection, stories bridge the gaps. They link us to meaning, to metaphor, and most importantly, to one another. As practitioners and researchers, we grappled with a fundamental question: How do we convince the skeptics—the nonbelievers—that stories matter? Why should they fund research into this intangible magic?

3. Dialogues and Diverse Voices

The discussions flowed like a river of narratives at A Well at the World’s End. Here’s a glimpse:

Prue Thimbleby: Stories in care settings—nursing homes, breast reconstruction appointments. How can narratives amplify voices?
Elizabeth Vooght: Playfulness therapy and Kamberelis’s work—a tantalizing connection to my own research.
Dafydd Davies-Hughes: Storytelling with young probationers in Welsh communities—unlocking potential.
Fiona Collins: Her storytelling revival questionnaire—revealing the heartbeat of storytelling.
Laura Simms: Stories as repair tools—transforming ex-child soldiers, rebuilding communities.
Janet Dowling: Bereavement narratives and therapeutic practice—a delicate dance.
Suzie Doncaster: Confidence in communication—how stories empower.
Nicola Grove: Using storytelling to support those with learning difficulties—bridging gaps.
Emily: Women’s stories of their bodies—across art forms, a symphony of voices.
Jess Wilson: Storytelling in psychiatric nursing—compassion and connection.
Trish Chilton: Social construction and meaning-making—researching stories creatively.
Rosa Durand: Federal police in Mexico—training officers to tell stories for peace.
Karen Lewis: The George Ewart Evans Centre For Storytelling—a hub of exploration.

4. Steve Killick’s Call to Action

As the morning sun bathed the castle, Steve Killick stepped forward. His words resonated: “Stories are a powerful way of working with people.” But it’s not enough to feel it; we must prove it. Research—the missing stitch in our tapestry—must fill in the gaps. Let’s weave stories into evidence, and evidence into understanding.

Conclusion to A Well at the World’s End Conference

In the castle’s shadow, we left with hearts full of stories. The conference had done its magic—connecting us, inspiring us. As we venture forth, let’s remember that stories are more than words; they are lifelines. So, fellow storytellers, let’s spin our tales, stitch by stitch, until the whole world is wrapped in their warmth.

And there you have it—a retelling of our conference, a patchwork of voices. May our narratives continue to intertwine, creating bridges across time and space.

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Childcare … Education, Emotions and the Future Seminar

Emma Parfitt — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 11:12:00 +0000

Childcare meeting a conference? What are you talking about, Emma? The name of the conference was Education, Emotions and the Future Seminar. I attended and spoke at this fascinating conference in Leicester (22 Jan 2014). The standard of speakers was very high. Here is a link to the presentation that I gave:-

Emma’s presentation

The programme for the day was as follows:-

Part 1: Education, Emotions and the Present

Keynote: ‘Spatial Disparities in Emotional Responses to Education: Feelings of ‘Guilt’ Amongst Student-Parents’ (Rachel Brooks; University of Surrey)

Detached Youth Work: Understanding (how to be with) Young People’s Emotions (Matej Blazek; Loughborough University)

Emotions and Disaffection with School Mathematics (Gareth Lewis; University of Leicester)

The Cry for Professional Intimacy (Fiona Birkbeck; University of Nottingham)

Reflection, Emotions, Shock and Puzzlement in the Education Workplace (Rajesh Patel; De Montfort University)

Part 2: Education, Emotions and the Future

Keynote: Education and the Construction of Hope (Darren Webb; University of Sheffield)

Atmospheres of Progress in a Data-Based School (Matt Finn; University of Durham)

Me! The Narrative of Education: A Changing Force in Society? (Emma Parfitt; University of Warwick)

Widening Participation and Educating Hope (Thomas Grant; University of Leicester)

Thoughts about the conference

I especially enjoyed Darren Webb, Matt Finn, and also Rachel Brooks’ talk on student-parents.

What I took away from Rachel Brooks’ talk is this. That historically there is an uneasy relationship between emotions and higher education. Emotions are typically erased or managed in the education system in place of rational thought (Beard 07, Clegg 13, Hey and Leathwood 09). This is an advantage to those from privileged backgrounds. I am not from such a background, and have found the educational transition hard between public school, to university (for a degree), finally returning for a PhD after working. With a lot more confidence, if not the bank balance … having worked parttime to fund my studies as a mature student.

One place where class and choices meet, where the topic of the talk was evident, is in the provision of childcare and the ability of women to have access to suitable childcare for their circumstances. For instance this effects women’s options to return to education/work or stay in the home to provide childcare. And different women have different needs and wants in this area.

I liked the idea Brooks mentioned of social patterning. What makes a good mother, what makes a good father, as being determined by the expectations and pressures of society around families. The ‘norm’ for a family, in terms of who cares for the child, who works, in the family home.

Women’s Guilt

Over all women felt more guilty than fathers for returning to university. Brooks’ argued that therefore normative constructions of motherhood are in conflict with education. And one could say that emphasis on attachment (in early childhood studies) and intensive parenting (and its effect on brain development) carries a cost for women more than men. How as woman can we validate decisions to keep working, or to return to education, if child care structures as they stand do not there to support this?

I found it interesting that more guilt was expressed by UK mothers than those from Denmark (the study compared two Danish, and two British univisersities). Brooks’ explained that in Denmark it is more usual for mothers to work while the child is young compared to the UK where women feel the weight of societal disapproval against the return of mothers to the workplace. Her work indicates that surrounding social networks have a big impact in women’s opportunities/resolve to return or continue with higher education. Brooks’ also mentioned that the state also plays an important role because they establish the ‘norms’ of child care. More needs to be done to support women who want to work, because women can feel this conflict between work and child care. Those that want to work also want to know their child is getting the best care.

Women in Denmark

Women in Denmark also received more support from their partners. Men were more involved with child care. Whereas in the UK men predominantly saw themselves as providers for the family and therefore less guilty than the women for not being as involved with child care. Though I also know, through personal experience, more men are opting to look after their children, and support their partners and get involved, to allow their partner to continue working.

The point is that those options should be there. Women should be supported and not made to feel guilty for wanting to work. Whether we like it or not female biology makes this difficult, naturally mothers want to be close to their child, they may want to breast-feed and there are not the structures to support this for the average working woman. The workplace favours men with families more than women, and understandably women are more and more caustious about mentioning family in a job interview than men. Because it is assumed that they will be the ones to drop everything and not show up to work if the child has the chicken-pox or whatever.

More provisions are needed for childcare

Therefore more provisions, more demands, need to be requested from employers, from the government, to allow women to be close to their children whilst working. And affordable child care for people who need to work to bring in enough money to live on.

Obviously any woman who intends to have a family will have concerns about how to balance these things. Especially that it is often the woman who is expected to make sacrifices either in terms of her career or in time spent with her children. We can’t have it all. That is the reality. But we can try to find a way that works for us … that at least should be an option.

Unfortunately we don’t all have the same gumption as Kara Westlund, a full-time municipal councillor to take our children to work. I have to ask… why not?

Who am I?

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Storytelling Workshops

Emma Parfitt — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:26:00 +0000

This month I have been arranging to go into three schools to start collecting data from focus groups. I have three student storytellers on board for three schools. And I will be conducting the research in the summer term (April – May). Paul Whitehouse (English PhD student) and I have also finalised details of our summer school programme for widening participation and are applying for funding. This will include 40 students from local schools over two days. The theme is transformations as it give the students a chance to rewrite and subvert fairy tales and put together a performance of their ideas for the final day. The two days will include storytelling, performance storytelling and writing workshops, A campus tour and hopefully a bit of shadow puppet making as well.

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Hochschild & Storytelling

Emma Parfitt — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:45:00 +0000

December 3^rd Warwick University Writer’s department hosted poet Michael Farrell from Australia. I liked the narrative style of his most recent stuff. Had a conversation with him at the end about the poem Juggle which I thought was called Jungle, as I heard lots of jungle imagery in it, and was carried away by my own internal narrative and his words. It was fascinating hearing him talk about his techniques as a writer (which sometimes involve chance, like throwing a dice). I was interested in poetry as a verbal language… in my experience of hearing poetry it comes to life in a way that it doesn’t on the page. However Farrell challenged this perception because his form is very visually represented on the page.

I was also lucky to attend storytelling performances by MA students of Drama and Theatre Education on 5^th December at Warwick’s Avon studio.

The performed stories were The Good Daughter, Rapunzel, Persephone, Nezha, Emperor’s New Clothes and Bluebeard. I particularly liked the creative quirks in The Emperor’s New Clothes and Bluebeard. The students are going to perform to children. The students work interested me because I have been thinking of my PhD, more recently, in terms of the emotional language of stories, the values and meanings hidden in their verbal expression, and how adolescents could construct an idea of the emotional “norms” of society from this. This has links with work by Arlie Hochschild on “feeling rules”. From now until January I will be focusing on reading more around this area to formulate a paper considering how the ideas of Hochschild could be used as part of an interdisciplinary approach to my work on storytelling with adolescents.

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Christmas Sparkle

Emma Parfitt — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 19:33:00 +0000

I’ve been spending the last month focusing in on methodology. I’ve returned this week to the concept of emotional intelligence. This time looking more critically at the idea and the abilities I wish to focus on in respect to what can I measure in terms of emotional abilities. Empathy is a definite skill and worth further reading.

I’ve also begun promoting an event at Warwick University. An hour of wintery tales from Irish storyteller Colin King. This is a free event for postgraduated students made possible with support from the Research Student Skills Programme and the department of English and Comparative Literary Studies. I’m hoping to get students to share their stories after the main event and hope that it will be a success.

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Scottish Storytelling Festival

Emma Parfitt — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:39:00 +0000

I just got back from Edinburgh. Went to the Scottish Storytelling Festival for the chance to meet Joanna Geyer Kordesch, who is researching Science, Medicine and the Arts of Illness with funding from the Wellcome Trust. Sadly she is not very well and was unable to attend her workshops last week. Donald Smith, Director of the Storytelling Centre, led the discussions stating very eloquently that ‘the way we experience the world is closer to imagination than to a realistic science model. In the way that we view the world is very different from that experience.’

The group discussed health and states of mind with some of the group sharing wonderful personal stories.

Kordesch believes that ‘Narrative description is subjective and orientated on the individual’s attempt to understand experience’. To improve the health care system we need to work with each person’s story, treating mind and body as a complete whole. Mental states of illness are about relationships: the individual’s connections to others, our sense of being related to our surrounding environment.

I wish Kordesch a complete recovery and look forward very much to reading the finished paper as she seems to have done a lot of fascinating research into writers and their thoughts on well-being.

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