In this study, Greimas’s work on narrative structure is used to improve a specific practice: the research interview. In the social sciences, narrative interviewing often consists of collecting data from which a narrative is then constructed through analysis afterwards. In the interview method presented here, the interviewer instead prompts the interviewee to construct a narrative. We introduce the method, contextualize it by comparing it to previous and contemporary interview methods, and illustrate it with a small, sociolinguistic study: students (n = 12) from a humanities faculty and a science and engineering faculty at a Dutch university were interviewed about experiences with the use of different languages than the language of instruction in an international learning environment. The method allowed for smooth data collection, due to its narratively structured questioning and consequent rich data. Moreover, using narrative structures to guide the interview also facilitated easy analysis and comparison of the stories.
{"title":"The structured narrative interview","authors":"Sjoerd-Jeroen Moenandar, Floor Basten, Giti Taran, Ariadni Panagoulia, Gemma Coughlan, Joana Duarte","doi":"10.1075/ni.23079.moe","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.23079.moe","url":null,"abstract":"In this study, Greimas’s work on narrative structure is used to improve a specific practice: the research interview. In the social sciences, narrative interviewing often consists of collecting data from which a narrative is then constructed through analysis afterwards. In the interview method presented here, the interviewer instead prompts the interviewee to construct a narrative. We introduce the method, contextualize it by comparing it to previous and contemporary interview methods, and illustrate it with a small, sociolinguistic study: students (n = 12) from a humanities faculty and a science and engineering faculty at a Dutch university were interviewed about experiences with the use of different languages than the language of instruction in an international learning environment. The method allowed for smooth data collection, due to its narratively structured questioning and consequent rich data. Moreover, using narrative structures to guide the interview also facilitated easy analysis and comparison of the stories.","PeriodicalId":46671,"journal":{"name":"Narrative Inquiry","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142789893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article investigates how the core features of narratives and the logic of storytelling are manifested in stories told by the developers and users of an information system and how they may adversely affect their perceptions of the ongoing implementation process. Information systems and the way they operate create a negative cycle where primarily problems possess tellability. We identify a negative masterplot dominating the narratives surrounding information system projects. We examine an ongoing public sector healthcare information system project by analysing both the written narratives of frustrated health and social care professionals on a social media channel and the oral narratives told by employees of the project organisation. These stories reveal a narrative struggle and various strategies, such as positioning, used in sense-making. We suggest that a better understanding of how narratives function could help disentangle the sociotechnical issues involving information system developers and users.
{"title":"Narrating the sociotechnical mess","authors":"Pasi Raatikainen, Matias Nurminen","doi":"10.1075/ni.22109.raa","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.22109.raa","url":null,"abstract":"This article investigates how the core features of narratives and the logic of storytelling are manifested in stories told by the developers and users of an information system and how they may adversely affect their perceptions of the ongoing implementation process. Information systems and the way they operate create a negative cycle where primarily problems possess tellability. We identify a negative masterplot dominating the narratives surrounding information system projects. We examine an ongoing public sector healthcare information system project by analysing both the written narratives of frustrated health and social care professionals on a social media channel and the oral narratives told by employees of the project organisation. These stories reveal a narrative struggle and various strategies, such as positioning, used in sense-making. We suggest that a better understanding of how narratives function could help disentangle the sociotechnical issues involving information system developers and users.","PeriodicalId":46671,"journal":{"name":"Narrative Inquiry","volume":"218 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142789890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In recent years, strands of contemporary narrative theory have taken a turn toward a politically, socially, and environmentally conscious field of study that could be characterized as ‘engaged narratology.’ Creating and disseminating knowledge about how narratives work, these theories emphasize that narrative forms and strategies are neither universal nor neutral; they carry out, but can also challenge, systems of inequality and marginalization. They also suggest new combinations of theory and activism, pedagogical interventions, and community engagement models, offering tools to create social justice. This article outlines some of these recent developments and reflects on the possibilities of ‘engaged narratology’: how it relates to engaged research and what kinds of practices have been developed so far. As an example of engaged narratological work, it discusses the shared close reading of Roxane Gay’s book Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body (2017) in a multidisciplinary narrative medicine classroom.
{"title":"Toward engaged narratology","authors":"Anna Ovaska","doi":"10.1075/ni.24029.ova","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.24029.ova","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, strands of contemporary narrative theory have taken a turn toward a politically, socially, and environmentally conscious field of study that could be characterized as ‘engaged narratology.’ Creating and disseminating knowledge about how narratives work, these theories emphasize that narrative forms and strategies are neither universal nor neutral; they carry out, but can also challenge, systems of inequality and marginalization. They also suggest new combinations of theory and activism, pedagogical interventions, and community engagement models, offering tools to create social justice. This article outlines some of these recent developments and reflects on the possibilities of ‘engaged narratology’: how it relates to engaged research and what kinds of practices have been developed so far. As an example of engaged narratological work, it discusses the shared close reading of Roxane Gay’s book Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body (2017) in a multidisciplinary narrative medicine classroom.","PeriodicalId":46671,"journal":{"name":"Narrative Inquiry","volume":"20 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142789894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alaina Leverenz, Jennifer G. Bohanek, Robyn Fivush
Abstract Individuals create both personal and culturally shared meaning through narratives; however, sparse research has explored the specific ways in which individuals might use such cultural narratives in creating meaning from developmentally important experiences. In this study, we examine how emerging adults narrate positive romantic relationships, both because emerging adulthood is critical for the development of intimacy and because romantic relationship narratives are pervasive in cultural media. Thematic analysis of 31 narratives from mostly European-descent students attending a private liberal arts university in the Southeast US (mean age 19; 16 self-identified females) revealed three major narrative arcs, Love Grows, Firecrackers and Fairytale , which varied in coherence, coda, and mutuality of the relationship, but did not differ by gender. Further examination and discussion of these narratives suggest how emerging adults are making sense of their first romantic relationships in ways that inform efforts to educate and intervene to promote healthy and positive relationships.
{"title":"Love, actually","authors":"Alaina Leverenz, Jennifer G. Bohanek, Robyn Fivush","doi":"10.1075/ni.23001.lev","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.23001.lev","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Individuals create both personal and culturally shared meaning through narratives; however, sparse research has explored the specific ways in which individuals might use such cultural narratives in creating meaning from developmentally important experiences. In this study, we examine how emerging adults narrate positive romantic relationships, both because emerging adulthood is critical for the development of intimacy and because romantic relationship narratives are pervasive in cultural media. Thematic analysis of 31 narratives from mostly European-descent students attending a private liberal arts university in the Southeast US (mean age 19; 16 self-identified females) revealed three major narrative arcs, Love Grows, Firecrackers and Fairytale , which varied in coherence, coda, and mutuality of the relationship, but did not differ by gender. Further examination and discussion of these narratives suggest how emerging adults are making sense of their first romantic relationships in ways that inform efforts to educate and intervene to promote healthy and positive relationships.","PeriodicalId":46671,"journal":{"name":"Narrative Inquiry","volume":"116 26","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135136489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Review of Fletcher (2023): Storythinking: The New Science of Narrative Intelligence","authors":"Norbert Francis","doi":"10.1075/ni.23088.fra","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.23088.fra","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46671,"journal":{"name":"Narrative Inquiry","volume":"43 8","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136022564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}