‘Peripety’ has been defined by Aristotle for dramatic plots as a change to the opposite direction of events in accord with necessity or probability. The conference provides a platform to discover and critically discuss the notion of ‘peripety’ and its analytical potential for negotiating historical as well as contemporary transformations and corresponding stories of transition. Encouraging reflection upon neighbouring concepts of change, we aim to expand the debate on their relation to ‘peripety’, their scholarly prolificacy, and conditions of transferability. Together, we will elucidate turning points, crises, events, tipping points, and disruptions in the fields of literary, migration, and memory studies, medical humanities, environmental history, theatre studies, and political science. In this highly interdisciplinary format, we enter into negotiations about narratives of current poignancy: wars, floods, diseases, challenges to personal and collective identities, and even humour are being examined with regard to the narrative activities humans engage in to make sense of change.

Organisation Committee:
Speakers: Victoria Oertel, Nina Pilz
Natalia Iost, Paul Kirschstein, Rezeda Lyykorpi, Douglas Ong, Laura Tack, Martina Zagni, Krista Anna Zalāne (all Greifswald)

Academic advisor: 
Prof. Dr Eckhard Schumacher (Greifswald)

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