Narrative Research Now
Critical Perspectives on the Promise of Stories
Edited by Ashley Barnwell and Signe Ravn
Published
Dec 1, 2023Page count
180 pagesISBN
978-1529228601Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Dec 1, 2023Page count
180 pagesISBN
978-1529228618Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Dec 1, 2023Page count
180 pagesISBN
978-1529228618Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University Press
Narrative Research Now
At a time of contested realities and a renewed focus on the power of personal stories, narrative research is as relevant as ever. But while it has been praised for ‘giving voice’ to individuals and highlighting how they make sense of the social world, critics are starting to question which voices are being heard, or allowed to speak, and which experiences are made to count.
Supported by the editors’ popular podcast Narrative Now, this interdisciplinary volume addresses timely concerns about representation, power, voice, and the ethics of storytelling.
Contributors explore the capacities and limitations of narrative research, and map out new directions for the field while honouring its legacy.
“The distinctive contribution of this collection is to show the range of what counts as a story for different people, the multiple media and venues in which stories are told, and the necessarily collaborative nature of storytelling. The chapters are wonderfully open, especially to the limits of their own perspectives and methods. The difficulties of both telling and listening to stories are never resolved but always engaged. Authors do not present “findings”; instead, they keep asking questions, especially about how they represent the storytellers whom they honour.” Arthur W. Frank, author
“This is an exciting new collection that celebrates the strengths of narrative research, while taking a critical stance to what stories can do and how they can be used and abused in a range of disciplinary fields.” Maria Tamboukou, University of East London
“An important collection that challenges conventional approaches to narrative and forces us to think about how we might engage with the richness, messiness and power of (not/telling) our and other’s stories.” Jo Woodiwiss, University of Huddersfield
Ashley Barnwell is Senior Lecturer of Sociology at the University of Melbourne.
Signe Ravn is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Melbourne.
Foreword – Rachel Thomson
1. Narrative Now: Trends and Tensions - Ashley Barnwell and Signe Ravn
Part 1: Institutional Authority and Counter-Stories
2. Telling Stories with Ribbons: Visual Acknowledgment in the Wake of Child Sexual Abuse - Dave McDonald
3. Policy Narratives and Policy Change: The Case of Pill Testing - Martin Bortz
4. The Criminalised Other as Storyteller: The Promise and Peril of Bringing ‘Lived Experience’ into the Classroom - Diana Johns
Part 2: Tellable and Untellable Stories
5. Ethical Weaving: Creative Narrations of Family Trauma and Resilience - Wajeehah Aayeshah
6. ‘I can’t believe how much I've done’: Joan and The Evolution of Her Life Story - Nikki Henningham
Part 3: The Ethics of Representation
7. Songs as Narratives: Ethical Tensions in Midnight Oil’s Dead Heart (1986) and Gadigal Land (2020) - Liz Dean
8. Reading Back as a Way to Give Back? A Narrative Practice-informed Method for Interview-based Research - Sarah Strauven
9. Narrating Women's Life Histories: Voice, Audience, Ethics - Rachael Diprose
10. Narrative Next: Ways Forward for Narrative Research - Ashley Barnwell and Signe Ravn
