Exploring Human Narrative Intelligence with Narrative Oriented Inquiry

At last year‘s conference (see Hiles, Čermák and Chrz, 2009), we outlined an approach to narrative research which we call Narrative Oriented Inquiry. We see this as a dynamic framework for good practice, ie. a psychological approach developed with respect to research on personal narratives which offers a distinctive and critical framework to narrative inquiry. In this paper we want to explore how our approach can be used to explore the narrative intelligence that is at work in our everyday lives (Ricoeur, 1987/1991). We argue that the first steps in narrative data analysis offer crucial insight into how people exhibit this intelligence. Indeed, a relatively straightforward distinction between fabula and sjuzet can be used to reveal the identity positioning at play in a narrator‘s constructions. Taking an example from an interview with an elderly man, who is outlining his life journey with particular emphasis on the life events that influenced and changed the course of his career, we demonstrate NOI in action. The data analysis especially focuses upon the subtle ways in which NK participates in his own constructions of self.