Byrne, Bridget. “Reciting the Self: Narrative Representations of the Self in Qualitative Interviews.” Feminist Theory 4, no. 1 (April 1, 2003): 29–49. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464700103004001002.
Source: Sebastian Herrmann. Two men facing each other while shake hands and smiling. Unsplash
Summary
Claim: a person's view of self is dependent on categories of race, class and gender.
Keywords: life-history, narrative, qualitative interviewing, subjectivity, whiteness
Questions: What is involved in asking people to produce stories of their lives in interviews? How might this enable some, but also silence other accounts that are not so readily produced with this genre? (47)
Supports/opposes who: Foucault's idea that narratives help to point to "techniques" or "practices" of the self, but also argues some of his notions, such as failure to problematize "the mastery of the self" (35). Gestalt principle (32). Feminist research. Carolyn Steedman on historical accounts of self and the writing/telling techniques. Martin McQuillan on 'narrative' vs 'story'. Donald E. Polkinghorne on 'self-narrative'. Byrne on raced, classed and gendered narratives. bell hooks on racial difference (38). Marie-François Chanfrault-Duchet (40)
Method: observes how people see themselves through three interviews, which are reported on in a narrative way. Adopts Foucauldian method where the subject is understood as "outcome of processes of production and self-production through the interplay of discourse and practice" (31). Comparing the differences between the interviewees via their narratives.
Why important
To feminist researchers: as a way to explore women's experiences as "hidden from history", and a way to access female voices (33). Raises questions "not only about processes of subjection, but about the use of storied narratives as a means of accessing them" (47).
To general public: idea that we are essentially stories we tell to ourselves throughout our lives - but these stories are not independent, but instructed by our context.
Relevance to my research: demonstrates how interviews can be included in the text as an illustration and vehicle for theory
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Notes:
One thing that interview shows is that women, contrary to men, do not insist on their life being as a series of self-conscious choices they made, eg living their life as their own, their narratives include narratives of other people (35) - which is seen as an opposition to Foucauldian notion of "Self-mastery' of the self. In other words, it puts much more stress on intersubjectivity (36).