English School of English, University of Leicester

How are pepeople responding to larger social narratives and how are they co-constructing them in different ways, for example by using social media and sites such as Wikipedia? Dr Ruth Page discusses counter narratives, looking at narrative as a mode for positioning and the ways in which counter narratives contrast with dominant narratives, with a specific example of the Wikipedia article of the murder of Meredith Kercher.

In the last few years, Dr Page's research has been exploring how personal storytelling is reworked in social media contexts. The work in progress that is presented in this lecture is part of that research trajectory, but specifically considers how stories are embedded in wider conflicts, and how they are managed in what we might consider instead to be ‘anti-social’ media.

Ruth begins by sketching in the research context and questions, then moves on to consider a particular case study: how the narratives surrounding the Murder of Meredith Kercher have been documented in a particular social media context: Wikipedia.

Dr Ruth Page talks about Web 2.0 technologies and the shift within participatory culture.

Dr Ruth Page talks about Web 2.0 technologies and the shift within participatory culture.

Dr Harry Whitehead talks about what creative writing is and why it can't be taught.