Following the highly successful launch of the new Centre for Media, Politics and Communications Research (CMPCR) with the public lecture by Eliot Higgins of Bellingcat on September 20 at the Nottingham Contemporary, CMPCR is delighted to announce the first event of the Autumn Seminar Series.

The CMPCR Autumn Seminar Series is dedicated to interrogating the role of storytelling and metanarratives in persuasive political communication, including in propaganda and populist personality politics.

The next roundtable event will be held on Wednesday 18 October 2023, from 3.30pm – 5pm in Room A2,  Law and Social Sciences building, entitled “Political narratives and journalistic storytelling: an Interdisciplinary discussion“.

The first event is an interdisciplinary roundtable discussion between UoN colleagues from different disciplines with a common interest in political storytelling.

• Carina Hart’s (English Literature) analysis of Robin Hood folklore and literature demonstrates how the narrative of the heroic outlaw has been invoked by both Boris Johnson, whose government broke the law to prorogue parliament and avoid scrutiny of the Brexit bill, and Extinction Rebellion.
• Jen Birks’ (Cultural, Media and Visual Studies) study of the 2022 Conservative leadership election explores how both Truss and Sunak employed the ‘hero’s journey’ archetype to give competing visions of the dominant threat to the national community and their readiness to take up the quest to vanquish it.
• Ellen Watts (Politics and International Relations) will discuss the ‘origin story’ as a form of political knowledge and ‘meritocratic narratives’ in Marcus Rashford’s #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign.

We hope to welcome colleagues from a wide range of disciplines to join us in a discussion of political storytelling.

And if you’d like to see a full report of the launch event from BBC Politics East Midlands, please see here at 24 minutes in.