Article published in:
Narrative Matters in Medical Contexts across Disciplines
Edited by Franziska Gygax and Miriam A. Locher
[Studies in Narrative 20] 2015
► pp. 99–116

Narratives that matter. Illness stories in the ‘third space’ of qualitative interviewing

In the process of narrative interviewing in the medical field, intense relationships between interviewer and interviewee can develop and participants are often willing to reflect in a committed and multi-faceted manner about their illness experiences and their biographical meaning. Based on observations and data from the website project DIPEx (Database of Individual Patients’ Experiences), this effect of the situation of narrative interviewing is analyzed in terms of positioning and contextualization activities of interviewers aimed at deconstructing hierarchical imbalance and establishing an expert identity for the interviewee and his/her illness experiences. The evolving situation with its role changes and openness to identity work is compared with the concept of heterotopia and regarded as a deliberately created and transient ‘third space’ to explore new subject positions for the interviewees. Advantages and ethical as well as methodological dangers of this approach to interviewing are discussed.
Published online: 13 March 2015
https://doi.org/10.1075/sin.20.06luc
References

References

Bamberg, Michael
(1997) Positioning between structure and performance. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 7, 335–342.Google Scholar
(2011) Who am I? Narration and its contribution to self and identity. Theory & Psychology, 21(1), 3–24. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bamberg, Michael, De Fina, Anna, & Schiffrin, Deborah
(2011) Discourse and identity construction. In K. Luyckx, S. Schwartz & V. Vignoles (Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research (pp. 177–199). Berlin: Springer. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bamberg, Michael & Georgakopoulou, Alexandra
(2008) Small stories as a new perspective in narrative and identity analysis. Text & Talk, 28, 377–396. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bliesener, Thomas
(1980) Erzählen unerwünscht. Erzählversuche von Patienten in der Visite. In K. Ehlich (Ed.), Erzählen im Alltag (pp. 143–178). Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Bülow, Petra
(2008) ‘You have to ask a little.’ Troublesome story telling about contested illness. In L.-C. Hyden & J. Brockmeier (Eds.), Health, illness and culture: Broken narratives (pp. 131–151). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Charon, Rita
(2006) Narrative medicine: Honoring the stories of illness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Czarniawska, Barbara
(2004) Narratives in social science research. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Davies, Bronwyn, & Harré, Rom
(1990) Positioning: The discursive construction of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 20, 43–63. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
De Fina, Anna, & Georgakopoulou, Alexandra
(2012) Analyzing narrative. Discourse and sociolinguistic perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Deppermann, Arnulf
(2013a) Editorial: Positioning in narrative interaction. Narrative Inquiry, 23(1), 1–15. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2013b) How to get a grip on identities-in-interaction. (What) does ‘positioning’ offer more than ‘membership categorization’? Evidence from a mock story. Narrative Inquiry, 23(1), 62–88. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Foucault, Michel
(1986) Of other spaces. Diacritics, 16(1), 22–27. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Frank, Arthur
(1995) The wounded story teller. Body, illness, and ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2010) Letting stories breathe. A socio-narratology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Georgakopoulou, Alexandra
(2007) Small stories, interaction and identities. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Gumperz, John J.
(1992) Contextualization and understanding. In A. Duranti & Ch. Goodwin (Eds.), Rethinking context: Language as an interactive phenomenon (pp. 229–252). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hawkins, Anne Hunsaker
(1993) Reconstructing illness: Studies in pathography. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.Google Scholar
Health Experiences Research Group
(2014) Researchers’ handbook healthtalkonline modules (Version 31). Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Herxheimer, Andrew, & Ziebland, Sue
(2008) Das DIPEx-Projekt: Eine systematische Sammlung persönlicher Krankheitserfahrungen. Neurologische Rehabilitation, 14(1), 31–40.Google Scholar
Hetherington, Kevin
(1996) Identity formation, space and social centrality. Theory Culture Society, 13(4), 33–52. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(1998) Expressions of identity. Space, performance, politics. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Hoefert, Hans-Wolfgang, & Klotter, Christoph
(Eds.) (2011) Wandel der Patientenrolle: Neue Interaktionsformen im Gesundheitswesen. Göttingen: Hogrefe.Google Scholar
Hollway, Wendy, & Jefferson, Tony
(2013) Doing qualitative research differently: A psychosocial approach (2nd ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hyden, Lars-Christer, & Brockmeier, Jens
(2008) Health, culture and illness: Broken narratives. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kraus, Wolfgang
(2013) The quest for a third space. Heterotopic self-positioning and narrative identity. In C. Holler & M. Klepper (Eds.), Rethinking narrative identity. Persona and perspective. Studies in narrative 17 (pp. 69–83). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kvale, Steinar
(1996) InterViews. An introduction to qualitative research interviewing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Lucius-Hoene, Gabriele
(2002) Narrative Bewältigung und Coping-Forschung. Psychotherapie und Sozialwissenschaft, 4, 166–203.Google Scholar
(2012) Das Leben mit der Krankheit: Chronisch Kranke erzählen. Berliner Ärzte, 2, 29–31.Google Scholar
Lucius-Hoene, Gabriele, & Deppermann, Arnulf
(2004). Rekonstruktion narrativer Identität. Ein Arbeitsbuch zur Analyse narrativer Interviews. Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.Google Scholar
(2008) Levels of positioning in narrative interaction. Paper presented at Georgetown Round Table of Language and Linguistics on Telling Stories. Building Bridges among Language, Narrative, Identity, Society, Interaction and culture. Washington, DC, March 14–16, 2008.
Lucius-Hoene, Gabriele, Groth, Susanne, Becker, Anne-Kathrin, Dvorak, Fabian, Breuning, Martina, & Himmel, Wolfgang
(2013) Wie erleben Patienten die Veröffentlichung ihrer Krankheitserfahrungen im Internet? Rehabilitation, 52, 196–201. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Lucius-Hoene, Gabriele, Thiele, Ulrike, Breuning, Martina, & Haug, Stephanie
(2012) Doctors’ voices in patients’ narratives: Coping with emotions in storytelling. Chronic Illness, 8, 163–175. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
McAdams, Dan
(2006) The redemptive self. Stories Americans live by. Oxford: Oxford University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Mishler, Elliott G.
(1986) Research interviewing. Context and narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Rogers, Carl
(1951) Client-centered psychotherapy. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.Google Scholar
Nelson, Hilde. L.
(Ed.) (1997) Stories and their limits. Narrative approaches to bioethics. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Stein, Michael
(2007) The lonely patient. How we experience illness. New York, NY: William Morrow/Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Toombs, S. Kay
(1993) The meaning of illness. A phenomenological account of the different perspectives of physician and patient. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Wengraf, Tom
(2001) Qualitative research interviewing: Biographic narrative and semi-structured methods. Los Angeles, CA: Sage. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Williams, Simon J.
(2005) Parsons revisited: from the sick role to...? Health, 9(2), 123–144.Google Scholar
Wortham, Stanton
(2001) Narratives in action. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
Ziebland, Sue
(2013) Narrative interviewing. In S. Ziebland, A. Coulter, J.D. Calabrese & L. Locock (Eds.), Understanding and using health experiences: Improving patient care (pp. 38–48). Oxford: Oxford University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Adami, Sandra, Martina Breuning, Jürgen Bengel, Alexander Bischoff & Simon Peng-Keller
2018. Chronische Schmerzpatientinnen und -patienten sprechen über ihre Spiritualität. Spiritual Care 7:3 ► pp. 243 ff. Crossref logo
Gülich, Elisabeth
2017.  In Erzählen, ► pp. 140 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 november 2021. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.