Narratives, Stories and Their Interpretations

On Thursday, January 30, 2020, the Department of Psychology at The American University of Paris hosted Professor Michael Bamberg of Clark University for a lecture about the interpretation of narratives in relation to emotions and the construction of identity. Bamberg addressed an audience of faculty, staff and students in the Judith Hermanson Ogilvie Grand Salon in the Combes Student Life Center.

A prominent scholar of narrative and identity, Bamberg conducts research that focuses on the so-called “small story” narratives produced in everyday interactions and how such interactions shape the way we think about ourselves and others. His lecture focused on the microanalysis of everyday interaction, such as gestures, line of sight, body movements and the nonverbal aspects of storytelling. He argued that both our everyday interactions and our emotions are influenced by carefully orchestrated micro-level movements – such as body posture and the arrangement of visual frames – as well as sound and music.

Bamberg drew on naturally occurring data – such as interactions filmed in a train station in Japan – as well as well-known advertising clips in the media. He argued that these kinds of nonverbal interactions represent a new source for research into the construction of meaning in general and for identity research in particular. Analyzing these micro-interactions more closely might give us better insight into the construction of identity in what appears to be everyday, mundane situations.