Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Generating Discursive Resources: Storytelling for Positive Peace

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace

  • 1190 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter explores the role of storytelling as a practice to nurture positive peace. Constructive storytelling is defined as nurturing positive peace through promoting empowerment, mutual recognition, and awareness of self in context. Innumerable story-based projects can be developed to work with issues of power, identity, and knowledge. These can be seen to fall into different types of practices: promoting self-awareness, promoting dialogue, innovative interventions that are tailored to the specific needs of local issues, projects that involve artists or are artist-led, innovative practices that have been scaled up and have spread, storytelling to build cultural values, and public re-narration of painful history. Some best practices are reviewed, and advantages and disadvantages of story-based practices are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 599.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agger, I., Raghuvanshi, L., Shaban, S., Polantin, P., & Laursen, L. K. (2009). Testimonial therapy: A pilot project to improve psychological wellbeing among survivors of torture in India. Torture, 19(3), 204–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agger, I., Igreja, V., Kiehle, R., & Polatin, P. (2012). Testimony ceremonies in Asia: Integrating spirituality in testimonial therapy for torture survivors in India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and the Philippines. Transcultural Psychiatry, 49(3–4), 568–589.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agosin, M. (1987). Scraps of life, Chilean arpilleras: Chilean women and the Pinochet dictatorship. Trenton, NJ: Red Sea Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amollo, A. M. (2002). From playing to learning to change: Theatre in conflict transformation and peace building. Nairobi: Amani People’s Theatre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-On, D. (Ed.). (2000). Bridging the gap: Storytelling as a way to work through political and collective hostilities. Hamburg: Körber-Stiftung.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauman, R., & Briggs, C. L. (1990). Poetics and performance as critical perspectives on language and social life. Annual Review of Anthropology, 19, 59–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beah, I. (2007). A long way gone: Memoirs of a boy soldier. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boal, A. (1995). The rainbow of desire: The Boal method of theatre and therapy (A. Jackson, Trans.). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bobo, J. (1996). Black women as cultural readers. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonnemaison, E. (2018). The voice from north point Douglas: Spatial justice, embodied dispossession, and resistance in Winnipeg. Master’s thesis, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borstel, J., & Koza, P. (2017). Aesthetic perspective attributes of excellence in arts for change. Washington, DC: Americans for the Arts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulding, K. (1990). Three faces of power. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cantacuzino, M. (2015). The forgiveness project: Stories for a vengeful age. London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coles, R. (1993). The call of service: A witness to idealism. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coles, R. (1995). The story of Ruby Bridges. New York: Scholastic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. (2019). “Under the hammer.” Overland, Winter, no. 235. https://overland.org.au/2011/11/under-the-hammer/

  • Denborough, D. (2008). Collective narrative practice: Responding to individuals, groups, and communities who have experienced trauma. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denborough, D. (2010). The kite of life: From intergenerational conflict to intergenerational alliance. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denborough, D. (2012). Responding to the stories of torture and suffering: Survival skills and stories of Kurdish families. The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 3, 18–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denborough, D. (2015). The cricket Team of Life methodology. The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, 1, 73–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denborough, D., Freedman, J., & White, C. (2008). Strengthening resistance: The use of narrative practice with genocide survivors – A workshop facilitated for Ibuka, the National Survivors’ Association in Rwanda. Adelaide: Dulwich Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egerton, C. A. (2015). Common visions: Photography and conflict transformation. Global Journal of Peace Research and Praxis, 1(1), 101–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egerton, C. A. (2019). Being & becoming: A photographic inquiry with Bahá’í men into cultures of peace (the essence of an arts-based dissertation). In L. Reimer, K. Standish, & C. Thiessen (Eds.), Narrative modes of inquiry. Abingdon: Routledge. [in press].

    Google Scholar 

  • Escobar, A. (1995). Encountering development: The making and unmaking of the Third World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ganz, M. (2001). The power of story in social movements. In the Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Anaheim, California, August 18–21, 2001. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:27306251

  • Gerbner, G., & Gross, L. (1976). Living with television: The violence profile. Journal Communication, 26(2), 172–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, R., & Newman, D. (2014). Testing a digital storytelling intervention to reduce stress in adolescent females. Storytelling, Self, Society, 10(2), 177–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haraway, D. (1989). Primate visions. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, S. T. (2012). Dramatic problem solving: Drama-based group exercises for conflict transformation. London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins, S. T., & Georgakopolous, A. (2010). Dramatic problem solving: Community conflict transformation through interactive theatre in Costa Rica. International Journal of Arts and Sciences, 3(8), 545–560.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, J. W. (2011). Peace-building through listening, digital storytelling, and community media in Cyprus. Global Media Journal, 6(1), 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jørgensen, M. M., Modvig, J., Agger, I., Raghuvansh, L., Shabana Khan, S., & Polatin, P. (2015). Testimonial therapy: Impact on social participation and emotional wellbeing among Indian survivors of torture and organized violence. Torture, 25(2), 22–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelman, H. C. (1996). Negotiation as interactive problem solving. International Negotiation, 1, 99–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolb, H. (2012). The fruit of the Tree of Life: A psychosocial support tool with narrative practice ideas offered to unaccompanied child refugees. Master’s thesis, University of Adger, Kristiansand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederach, J. P. (1995). Preparing for peace: Conflict transformation across cultures. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, H. (1989). The dance of intimacy: A woman’s guide to courageous acts of change in key relationships. New York: HarperPerrenial.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipman, D. (1995). The storytelling coach: How to listen, praise, and bring out people’s best. Little Rock, AK: August House.

    Google Scholar 

  • López-Bech, L., & Zúñiga, R. (2017). Digital storytelling: Putting young asylum seekers at the heart of the story. Intercultural Education, 28(2), 224–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Möller, F. (2019). Peace photography. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mollica, R. (2014). The new H5 model. Boston, MA: Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, W. (2018). The morality wars. New York Times, October 3. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/03/magazine/morality-social-justice-art-entertainment.html

  • Myerhoff, B. (1992). Remembered lives: The work of ritual, storytelling and growing older. Athens: University of Georgia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Narayan, K. (1989). Storytellers, saints, and scoundrels: Folk narrative in Hindu religious teaching. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Negata, A. L. (2004). Promoting self-reflexivity in intercultural education. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 8, 139–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Njoku, M. G. C., & Senehi, J. (2019). Peace stories: A model for creating and sustaining peace. In M. G. C. Njoku, L. A. Jason, & R. B. Johnson (Eds.), The psychology of peace promotion: Global perspectives on personal peace, children and adolescents, and social justice (pp. 237–252). Cham: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • O’Hagan, L. (Ed.). (2008). Stories in conflict: Towards understanding and healing. Derry/Londonderry: Yes!.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, C., & Stout, R. (2011). kiskinohamâtôtôpânâsk: Intergenerational effects on first nations women whose mothers are residential school survivors. Winnipeg, MB: Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilkington Garimara, D. (2002). Follow the rabbit-proof fence. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pittaway, E., Bartolomei, L., & Hugman, R. (2010). “Stop stealing our stories”: The ethics of research with vulnerable groups. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 1, 229–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reardon, B. A., & Snauwart, D. T. (2011). Reflective pedagogy, cosmopolitanism, and critical peace education for political efficacy: A discussion of Betty A. Reardon’s assessment of the field. In Factis Pax, 5(1), 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reed, C. (2019). The strength of the Mamas: Creating and living in a world of wonder, dignity, and freedom. Doctoral dissertation, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeler, T., et al. (2009). The Tree of Life: A community approach to empowering and healing survivors of torture in Zimbabwe. Torture, 19(3), 180–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rettig, H. K. (2005). The arts angle in social justice grantmaking: Results-oriented foundation world takes on the challenge and unpredictability of art’s creativity and innovation. Responsive Philanthropy, Fall, 8–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rouhana, N. N. (1995). The dynamics of joint thinking between adversaries in international conflict: Phases of the continuing problem-solving workshop. Political Psychology, 16(2), 321–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, P. (1995). Storytelling in Ireland: A re-awakening. Londonderry: Verbal Arts Centre.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, H. H. (1999). A public peace process: Sustained dialogue to transform social and ethnic conflicts. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schaffer, K., & Smith, S. (2004). Human rights and narrated lives: The ethics of recognition. New York: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, R. (1989). Arab-Jewish dialogue in the United States: Toward track II tractability. In L. Kriesberg, T. A. Northrup, & S. J. Thorson (Eds.), Intractable conflicts and their transformation (pp. 180–209). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwerin, E. (1995). Mediation, citizen empowerment, and transformation politics. Westport, CT: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. C. (1985). Weapons of the weak: Everyday forms of peasant resistance. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. C. (1990). Domination and the arts of resistance: Hidden transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, J. C. (1999). Seeing like a state: How certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senehi, J. (2002). Constructive storytelling. Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, 9(2), 41–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senehi, J. (2015). Our Tree of Life in the field: Locating ourselves in peace and conflict studies through the Tree of Life exercise. Peace Research: The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies, 47(1–2), 10–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senehi, J. (2019). Drawing on the power of cultural stories, human rights storytelling, and dialogue for peace. In L. Ford & S. Norfolk (Eds.), Speak peace: Words of wisdom, work and wonder (pp. 112–124). Little Rock, AK: Parkhurst Brothers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senehi, J., Kahanoff, M., & Shibli, N. (2008). Evaluation of Jerusalem stories – Performance, exhibit, dialogue. Unpublished report.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sepinuck, T. (2013). Theatre of witness: Finding the medicine in stories of suffering, transformation, and peace. London: Jessica Kingsley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanahan, J., & Morgan, M. (1999). Television and its viewers: Cultivation theory and research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Shuman, A. (2005). Other people’s stories: Entitlement claims and the critique of empathy. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, B. H. (1981). Narrative version, narrative theories. In W. J. T. Mitchell (Ed.), On narrative (pp. 209–232). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Calls to action. Winnipeg, MB: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Urban, G. (1991). A discourse-centered approach to culture: Native south American myths and rituals. Austin: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Merwe, C., & Wolfswinkel, R. (2002). Telling wounds: Narrative, trauma & memory working through the South African armed conflicts of the 20th century. Pretoria: Van Schaik Content Solutions.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Deusen, K. (2004). Singing story, healing drum: Shamans of Turkic Siberia. Montreal: McGill–Queen’s University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wemytewa, E., & Peters, T. O. (2008). Zuni River – Shiwinan K’ywainanne: Cultural confluence. In R. Solinger, M. Fox, & K. Irani (Eds.), Telling stories to change the world: Global voices on the power of narrative to building community and make social justice claims. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, M. (1995). Literature and resistance in Guatemala. Athens: Ohio University Center for International Studies.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Jessica Senehi

Authors
  1. Jessica Senehi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica Senehi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Katerina Standish

  2. National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Heather Devere

  3. National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Adan Suazo

  4. Department of Criminology and Social Sciences, University of Derby, Derby, UK

    Rachel Rafferty

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Senehi, J. (2022). Generating Discursive Resources: Storytelling for Positive Peace. In: Standish, K., Devere, H., Suazo, A., Rafferty, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Positive Peace. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0969-5_60

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation