Writers as readers in narrative inquiry: Learning from biography.

Abstract

Learning by doing," it is often said, is the best way to master a new skill. For my students in research methods courses, though they are reluctant to appear indifferent to the history and theory of narrative, it is their own emerging practice that interests them the most. They want to learn how to "do" narrative, often assuming there are well-known and well-defined procedures that will form the backbone of the course. Instead, I propose that narrative research represents a group of problems not only in composing texts but in reading them. Thus, the syllabus includes books that demonstrate possibilities for narrative, work by scholars aware of how storytelling forms operate in the disciplines.In this, my approach differs from the kinds of "reading" that Amia Lieblich and her colleagues have fruitfully explored in their pedagogically oriented Narrative Research (1998). They focus on how primary sourcesfor example, the results of a life history interview-can be read in order to construct convincing research accounts. As a complement to such efforts, 199

‘Strong multiplicity’: an interpretive lens in the analysis of qualitative interview narratives

“…Indeed, if identity is seen as multiple and relational – i.e. ‘we are fragmented, conflicted, multiple, and protean and see ourselves as variable and relativist in our actions and beliefs, rather than as consistent actors in the world with a sure grasp of experience’ (Weiland, 2003: 201) – inconsistency becomes a central and fertile site of analysis. Seeming tensions and contradictions between multiple identifications can be viewed as natural expressions of such multiple, relational selves and examined from a variety of constructive interpretive perspectives: e.g.…”

Narrative inquiry into (re)imagining alternative schools: a case study of Kevin Gonzales

“…Biographical narratives, according to Weiland (2003), have the feel of the familiar to most readers, and prompt among readers challenging questions regarding their taken-forgranted ideas. Biographical journal, then, means that the protagonist's lived experiences and perspectives are portrayed and (re)constructed by a researcher in the form of journal as an outcome of the research.…”

Rethinking Texts

“…These understandings can be helpful as students think through their data and analytic processes. For Weiland (2003), students and instructors of qualitative research should examine narrative from within this complex history to understand the foundations of narrative theory as well as its possibilities. Weiland argues, “The cost of isolation .…”

“…The specific narrative elements—plot, story, character, and focalization—provide important lenses for students as they sharpen their reading skills. Although foundational, theoretical readings are important, Weiland (2003) argues that students should launch into narrative inquiry by reading texts. The purpose of reading is twofold: (a) to develop an image of what various texts look like and (b) to confound the usual research process that places writing at the end of the inquiry process.…”

“…well-constructed narrative uses incident, characterization, time, location, and dialogue not only to develop a story (representing the data), but to represent an author’s sense of the powers and limits of the [research] form, including its artistic and moral dimensions. (Weiland, 2003, p. 212)…”