About the Lecture

Models of storytelling often highlight the artistry of the single teller, especially when the stories are personal narratives. But what of the artistry of the storytelling event as a whole? In this presentation I will examine the dialogic dimensions of everyday storytelling using examples from the genre of miracle narratives. Inspiring wonder, the miracle and its corollary, the curse, capitalize on the subjunctive as-if quality of performance to conjure alternative worlds embedded in the everyday.

About Katherine Borland

Katherine Borland is Professor in the Department of Comparative Studies and the Center for Folklore Studies at the Ohio State University. She studies and teaches about the artfulness of ordinary life, and the ways in which traditional expressive arenas constitute contested terrain. Her areas of expertise include feminist oral narrative, Environmental Humanities, and festival and dance.