Uses of Narrative

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.