About Chasing Tales

Chasing Tales reflects on contemporary political issues without effacing their emotional dimensions. The blog’s title was inspired by the discoveries I made when writing my forthcoming book (Chasing Tales: travel writing, journalism and the history of British ideas about Afghanistan). The concept of ‘chasing tales’ acknowledges the power of stories which, through force of repetition, often provide the illusion of insight (also see Edward Said’s classic study, Orientalism). Understanding the way stories work in different contexts is important. Conversely, stories can be redemptive, an anti-dote to pessimism. This blog critically examines stories, but it also embraces them.    

The Chasing Tales blogger is Corinne, a 36 year-old teacher, researcher, writer and occasional activist. The picure shows Corinne (left) with her twin sister Naomi, who is a radio documentary maker.