Master and counter narratives: An Introduction to interdisciplinary narrative research, Seminar

Course description

This MA level course introduces the methods and uses of narrative social research. Students passing the course are able to recognize narrative texts and communication, and to apply basic concepts, methods and theories of narrative analysis to their own material.

Course topics

1. What is narrative and what uses does it have?

· Text, communication, cognition, action?

· Narrative as representation, performance or reality: different narrative ontologies

2. Narrative voice. Giving, finding, or hearing a voice?

3. Jerome Bruner: canonicity and breach

4. Getting to the story. Narrative interviewing

5. Thematic analyses of narrative. Good and bad ways of selecting themes for analysis

6. The story of the Labovian oral story. Structural analysis

7. Narratives-in-interaction, co-construction and small story research

8. Narrative positioning analysis

9. Master and counter narratives: the politics of narration

10. Narrative criminology

11. Narrative genres and mechanisms for narrative influence on harm

12. Wrap-up