Article published In: Narrative Inquiry: Online-First Articles
Rethinking coherence through contradiction
Self-justification and moral ambivalence in conversational narrative
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Published online: 17 September 2026
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.26011.hig
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.26011.hig
Abstract
This article examines how narrative coherence is achieved in conversational storytelling when speakers confront morally and emotionally ambivalent experiences. Using a naturally occurring conversation in which a narrator reflects on losing romantic feelings for a close friend, the analysis explores how she negotiates critique and care while justifying that loss. Drawing on Duranti, A. (2006). Narrating the political self in a campaign for U.S. Congress. Language in Society, 35(4), 467–497. notion of existential coherence and (2001). Living Narrative: Creating Lives in Everyday Storytelling. Harvard University Press. tension between narrative coherence and authenticity of experience, I argue that contradiction is not a threat to narrative integrity but a generative resource within it. Specifically, I identify three narrative strategies through which the narrator pursues self-justification: (1) casting past action as warranted, (2) utilizing but to negotiate contradictory stances, and (3) evaluating the self against others. I introduce the concept of “coherence through contradiction” to capture how competing evaluative stances are interactionally patterned such that moral ambivalence becomes a stable and intelligible feature of narrative self-presentation.
Article outline
- Introduction
- Constructing the (coherent) narrative self
- Methods
- The narrative construction of self-justification
- Strategy one: Casting past action as warranted
- Strategy two: Utilizing but to negotiate contradictory stances
- Strategy three: Evaluating the self against others
- Interactional scaffolding and social ratification
- Discussion: Creating “coherence through contradiction”
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgment
References
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