Mieke Bal's 'Narratology in Practice' Published in Italian

The Italian translation of Mieke Bal's 'Narratology in Practice' (2021) has been published by Postmedia, edited by Sara Benaglia and introduced by contemporary art historian Carla Subrizi. The book serves as a complement to Bal's classic 'Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative' (1985, 4th ed. 2017). Bal, co-founder of the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis at the University of Amsterdam, is a video artist and curator who merges theory and practice. Her 'anti-method' derives concepts from objects of analysis rather than applying pre-existing categories, emphasizing intertextuality, interdiscursivity, and intersubjectivity. The book proposes a triadic division of narrative levels—text, fabula, and story—as an alternative to the binary form-content opposition. Bal analyzes works including Flaubert, Proust, 'Schindler's List', Nalini Malini's 'In Search of Vanished Blood' (Documenta 2012), Louise Bourgeois's 'Spider' (1997), and her own film 'Madame B.' (2012-2014) with Michelle Williams Gamaker. The film adapts Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary' through a principle of 'loyalty' rather than fidelity, emphasizing affect. Bal's narratology extends to political dimensions, drawing on Chantal Mouffe's concept of the political as antagonism, advocating for a more open critical and educational practice that includes marginalized perspectives.