معرفی
Maria Mäkelä is a Senior Lecturer in Comparative Literature and Head of the Literary Studies Degree Programme at Tampere University's Faculty of Social Sciences. She holds a PhD and is a Docent in Narrative Theory. Her research focuses on narrative theory, digital media storytelling, and the interplay between personal experience and collective narratives in social media environments. She leads the Authors of the Story Economy consortium (2024–2028), funded by the Research Council of Finland.
Her expertise includes comparative literature, narratology, and the analysis of viral storytelling dynamics. She co-founded the Narrare Centre for Interdisciplinary Narrative Studies and has published widely on topics like climate change narratives, political storytelling, and the ethics of personal experience sharing. Key projects include the Dangers of Narrative initiative, which critiques the risks of instrumental storytelling in public discourse.
Mäkelä's work bridges literary theory with social science, emphasizing the societal impact of narrative forms. Her articles explore how social media transforms storytelling into a didactic force, often distorting intended ethical and political messages. She also investigates medieval exempla in contrast to modern digital narratives, highlighting enduring patterns of narrative authorization.
Grants and leadership roles include the Research Council of Finland’s 2024–2028 consortium, academic board memberships, and editorial roles in journals like Style and Partial Answers. Her interdisciplinary approach has influenced fields from information systems to welfare studies, emphasizing narrative’s role in shaping collective understanding.
Lab/Team affiliations include the Narrare Centre and collaborations with institutions like the University of Turku and IULM University. Her research underscores the need for story-critical approaches to address narrative pitfalls in contemporary media environments.
