Known in Part: Transforming the Story, the Teller, and the Narrative Researcher.
Author(s):
Hones, Donald F.
Format:
Report
Publisher:
1997.
Language:
English
Abstract:
Narrative research offers unique possibilities for fostering dialogues of discovery between oneself and others. There is an increasing use of narrative inquiry within the field of educational research. A researcher's work with a Hmong refugee from Laos illustrates representational and interpretive dilemmas in narrative research. Narrative dialogues between the researcher and subject are presented as juxtaposed stories and interpretations, transcribed conversations, and reflections on the place of the poetic voice in narrative research. It is emphasized that narrative research has the power to bring together stories of informants and researchers, transforming the story and the participants in the process. This process helps both the researcher and the subject recover memories, renegotiate the present, and reconsider the possibilities of change. At the same time, the researcher, as a social scientist, must acknowledge that the ability to "know" through a research process has its limitations, and that the reward of narrative research is in its journey. An appendix contains an interview transcript. (Contains 47 references.) (SLD)