There has been a major ‘turn’ towards narrative, biographical and life history approaches in the academy over the last 30 years. What are some of the new directions in narrative research? How do narrative research approaches help us to understand the world differently? What do we learn by listening to stories and narratives? How do narratives extend our understanding that other research approaches do not? This collection of work grows from a symposium organised to explore new directions in narrative research. What emerges is a fascinating, innovative and generative series of essays, generally exploring narrative enquiry and more specifically themes of culture and context, identity, teacher education and methodology. This book will be useful for students and researchers using narrative and biographical methods in a range of disciplines, including education, sociology, cultural and development studies.

Social scientists increasingly invoke "narrative" in their theory and research. This book explores the wide range of work in sociology, psychology and cultural studies in which narrative approaches have been used to study meaning, subjectivity, politics, and power in concrete contexts.The Uses of Narrative presents a range of case studies, including: Princess Diana's Panorama interview, media coverage of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, memoirs of the wives of scientists who made the first atomic bomb, popular images of gay marriage, and the effect of the "Velvet Revolution" on writing autobiography.The book brings together contributions from European, Australian, and North American researchers, indicating the diversity and potential of narrative approaches. The editors adopt a distinctive and unique psychosocial approach to narrative, and set the individual chapters in the context of three broad themes: culture, life histories, and discourse. The Uses of Narrative complicates, challenges and stimulates--it will be of vital interest to sociologists, psychologists, social theorists, students of cultural studies, and others who are interested in the relationships between meaning, self and society.

Looks at how stories & imagination come together in our daily lives, influencing not only our thoughts about what we see and do, but also our contemplation of what is possible and what our limitations are.

A concise volume aimed at researchers and academics in sociology, anthropology, psychology and interpersonal communication.

"The literature on narrative inquiry has been, until now, widely scattered and theoretically incomplete. Clandinin and Connelly have created a major tour de force. This book is lucid, fluid, beautifully argued, and rich in examples. Students will find a wealth of arguments to support their research, and teaching faculty will find everything they need to teach narrative inquiry theory and methods."--Yvonna S. Lincoln, professor, Department of Educational Administration, Texas A&M University Understanding experience as lived and told stories--also known as narrative inquiry--has gained popularity and credence in qualitative research. Unlike more traditional methods, narrative inquiry successfully captures personal and human dimensions that cannot be quantified into dry facts and numerical data. In this definitive guide, Jean Clandinin and Michael Connelly draw from more than twenty years of field experience to show how narrative inquiry can be used in educational and social science research. Tracing the origins of narrative inquiry in the social sciences, they offer new and practical ideas for conducting fieldwork, composing field notes, and conveying research results. Throughout the book, stories and examples reveal a wide range of narrative methods. Engaging and easy to read, Narrative Inquiry is a practical resource from experts who have long pioneered the use of narrative in qualitative research.

"Of Literature and Knowledge looks ... like an important advance in this new and very important subject... literature is about to become even more interesting." – Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University. Framed by the theory of evolution, this colourful and engaging volume presents a new understanding of the mechanisms by which we transfer information from narrative make-believe to real life. Ranging across game theory and philosophy of science, as well as poetics and aesthetics, Peter Swirski explains how literary fictions perform as a systematic tool of enquiry, driven by thought experiments. Crucially, he argues for a continuum between the cognitive tools employed by scientists, philosophers and scholars or writers of fiction. The result is a provocative study of our talent and propensity for creating imaginary worlds, different from the world we know yet invaluable to our understanding of it. Of Literature and Knowledge is a noteworthy challenge to contemporary critical theory, arguing that by bridging the gap between literature and science we might not only reinvigorate literary studies but, above all, further our understanding of literature.

As people are living longer on average than ever before, the number of those with dementia will increase. Because many will live a considerable time at home with their diagnosis, we need to know more about the ways people can adapt to and learn to live with dementia in their everyday lives. Lars-Christer Hydén argues in this book that to do so will involve re-imagining what dementia really is and what it can mean to the afflicted and their loved ones. One of the most important everyday opportunities for sharing experiences is the simple act of storytelling. But when someone close to you gradually loses the ability to tell stories and cherish the shared history you have together, this is seen as a threat to the relationship, to the feeling of belonging together, and to the identity of the person diagnosed. Therefore, learning about how people with dementia can participate in storytelling along with their families and friends helps to sustain those relationships and identities. In Entangled Narratives, Hydén not only emphasizes the possibilities that are inherent in collaborative storytelling, but instructs professionals and otherwise healthy relatives to learn how to effectively listen and, ultimately, re-imagine their patients and loved ones as collaborative meaning-makers in their lives.