We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Lived Experience and Interpretation in Narrative Theory: Experiences of Living with HIV/AIDS.
- Authors
Ezzy, Douglas
- Abstract
Narrative analysis builds on the strengths of qualitative research by examining the construction of meaning and symbolic systems in a framework that is explicitly temporal and that links research in the humanities with that in the social sciences. Qualitative methodologies often assume reported data accurately reflects the realities of lived experience. On the other hand some research drawing on cultural studies argues that the “facts” of a person's life are irrelevant. This paper argues for a middle way based on narrative theory that explores the interaction of “objective” events and their “subjective” interpretation. Further, narrative analysis enables exploration of the temporal structure of people's experiences focusing on both how a person's memories of the past and anticipations of the future influence their understanding and actions in the present. These points are developed drawing on the theory and methodology of both Symbolic Interactionism and Paul Ricoeur's Hermeneutics. The experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS are used to illustrate and explicate the usefulness of narrative analysis.
- Subjects
HERMENEUTICS; SYMBOLIC interactionism; QUALITATIVE research; AIDS patients; SOCIAL sciences; SOCIAL interaction
- Publication
Qualitative Sociology, 1998, Vol 21, Issue 2, p169
- ISSN
0162-0436
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1023/A:1023486611891