Abstract
Across social science disciplines there has been a growth in narrative research—the so called ‘narrative turn’. This turn echoes broader shifts associated with more complex social worlds, epistemological challenges and feminist responses. Narrative research typically involves exploring individual, subjective experiences through interview-based research, but can also range across researching group and organisational dynamics to document-based analysis. In this chapter the question of what constitutes narrative research is explored and illuminated using data from a qualitative longitudinal study on transition to first-time motherhood. The importance of developing a theoretical rationale when choosing a narrative research approach, together with suggested ways of analysing data once collected, is noted. Researching individual accounts of subjective experience and transitions as a feminist researcher provides opportunities, but challenges too.
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Notes
- 1.
Although ‘reflexivity’ may be heightened, it is not unproblematic and should be critically engaged with as a concept and practice. For example taking account of the circumstances and gendered, classed and ‘raced’ possibilities/choices in which practices of reflexivity are understood and engaged.
- 2.
See Miller, T. (2005) Chapter 1 ‘The Storied Human Life’ for more details of theoretical framing in relation to debates on selves and identity.
- 3.
See for example Fraser (2004).
- 4.
All names used in the research are pseudonyms.
- 5.
Interestingly others spoke of a sense of ‘borrowing’ their baby in both the Motherhood and Fatherhood studies.
- 6.
Although several telephone conversations were conducted throughout this period.
- 7.
It is worthy of note that in the companion Fatherhood study the men did not engage in narrative reconstruction/editing of their accounts to the same extent as the women in the Motherhood study (see Miller 2010, Chap. 6). I have theorised this in relation to the possible (acceptable) ‘storylines’ available to mothers, which are more limited than those available to men who are fathers.
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Acknowledgements
Thanks are given to all the women who so generously shared with me their time and unfolding experiences of first-time motherhood. Thanks too to those women from the original sample I have traced and who have again shared their reflections on being a mother, but this time as their child has reached their 18th birthday. The editors of this collection are also acknowledged and thanked for their energy, insightful feminist thinking and contributions to feminist narrative research.
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Miller, T. (2017). Doing Narrative Research? Thinking Through the Narrative Process. In: Woodiwiss, J., Smith, K., Lockwood, K. (eds) Feminist Narrative Research. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-48568-7_3
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