Narrative Mapping of Social Worlds: The Voice of Experience in Alcoholics Anonymous

Abstract

At the threshold of an unfamiliar social world, newcomers may seek knowledgeable or experienced others for orientation, information, and advice. Oldtimers, "pros, " and veterans, in turn, may draw upon their personal experience to offer "narrative maps" of the new psychosocial geography. The prepresentations of reality contained in narrative maps may shape newcomers' decisions, actions, and discourse. Despite their ubiquity and significance, however, narrative maps have received scant attention as a topic of sociological inquiry. The personal narratives in meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous provide a rich opportunity to explore how experienced members articulate a version of the past, population, practices, and problems of a new world. The contexts, uses, and consequences of narrative mapping are considered.

Young athletic bodies and narrative maps of aging

“…In defining a narrative map, Pollner and Stein (1996) point out, "Through passage to a new status or a new social world, persons may find themselves on the threshold of uncharted territory whose customs, contours, and inhabitants are unknown" (p. 203). They stress that in gaining purchase on an unfamiliar world beyond the horizon of the here and now, newcomers may seek knowledgeable or experienced others for orientation, information, and advice regarding the psychosocial and physical landscape that presumable awaits them in the future.…”

“…Furthermore, these maps may also shape the actions of the young people who draw upon them by directing them toward certain areas and activities and away from others, and by specifying preparations in the present necessary for effective action in the future. As Pollner and Stein (1996) emphasize, by providing a preview of what is to come, narrative maps "may increase or reduce anxiety, motivation, and morale depending, of course, on what is portrayed as awaiting the traveller" (p. 219).…”

Mid-life nuances and negotiations: narrative maps and the social construction of mid-life in sport and physical activity

“…When confronted with times of change, people look for orientation, information and advice from experienced 3 others, in terms of how to act and how to negotiate a new sense of self (Kleiber & Hutchinson, 1999). The notion of 'narrative maps' has been suggested as one cultural mechanism for the learning of appropriate behaviours and the negotiation of new identities in unfamiliar situations (Pollner & Stein, 1996). Narrative maps are the representations or pre-representations of a social world (Pollner & Stein, 1996).…”

Taking sporting autobiographies seriously as an analytical and pedagogical resource in sport, exercise and health

“…For example, questions can be asked about how sporting autobiographies might act as narrative maps for other athletes when dealing with events, such as, serious injury or lifethreatening illness, addiction, or 'coming out' as lesbian or gay. In defining a narrative map, Pollner and Stein (1996) point out, 'Through passage to a new status or a new social world, persons may find themselves on the threshold of uncharted territory whose customs, contours, and inhabitants are unknown ' (p. 203). They stress that in gaining purchase on an unfamiliar world beyond the horizon of the here and now, newcomers may seek knowledgeable or experienced others for orientation, information, and advice regarding the psychosocial and physical landscape that presumable awaits them in the future.…”