Ein Ethos des Singulären

Vom Wert des Erzählens und dem Erzählen von Werten

Abstract

This essay explores the connection between narrativity and normativity through three theoretical considerations. First, it questions whether literature in itself can have the task of conveying values at all. Three thinkers are consulted on this topic: Christa Wolf, who sees the task of literature in dismantling deadly simplifications and keeping open spaces of ambivalence and utopia, Paul Ricoeur, who sees the task of literature in contributing to narrative self-development, and finally Jean-Luc Nancy, who sees literature as a medium of being-with, which is an end in itself. In a second part, we will now ask about the narrative structure of values. This is illustrated by the parable of the Good Samaritan. In it, one can see an ethos of the singular, which can be presented as an imperative to look closely and not to pass by the other hastily.