Narratives of the Servant.

The title workshop 'Narratives of the Servant' suggests major shifts both in the perception of historical discourse and in methodological perspectives of the history of domestic service. Narrative as a common denominator of all papers encompasses the problematique of historical discourse in terms of the narratives that historians create as well as of the conceptualization of the subject in historical work. Thus, first the papers acknowledge the historicity of historical narratives and treat narratives as a paradigmatic form in which reality is represented in historical discourse. The second shift that is suggested by the use of narrative can be identified with the double conceptualization of the subject,i.e., as the object of historical discourse and as a creative agent.