genesis of ‘the subject’ in narrative - discursive practices ? Is it possible to use narrative discourse as a ‘foundational basis for “the subject” and “subjectivity”? –what are the implications? –what could be gained? “THE” subject and subjectivity - narrative discourse Example (“Heidi used to call me her little honey”) Wrap up ( how ‘narrative discourse’ contributes ) APA 2006 language and subjectivity in culture --- clinical perspectives and narrative psychologies Michael Bamberg

“the subject” and ‘subjectivity’ Why are we interested in “subjectivity”? definitions ??? –from the native’s point of view subject as agent vs. subject as ‘subjected’ –issue of accountability and responsibility But why privileging ‘the subject’? –does s/he have privileged access to her self (experience, life, identity)? –NOT APRIORI

Subjectivity (cont.) We value ‘personal’ experience/life of the native as a countermove to traditional ‘objectification’ (where the researcher/therapist are in the privileged position to look “behind” the native) “Crediting personal experience” -- a new platform between ‘objectification’ and ‘subjectification’ with a re-definition of the researcher/therapist-subject relationship

story People/the person/subjects as having experiences, a life - and having a story to tell (about these experiences and their life) These stories we hear (coz they are shared with me) - and we work from there PROBLEM: –downplaying/idealizing the conditions under which stories are shared –as if the subject is ‘dialoging’ with herself (the subject is exploring her most inner/deepest self) > Stories as accounts

storying and accounting Stories and their ‘formal’ features –Stories as text (and their interpretation as texts) The functions of storytelling –Giving accounts of what happened, why it happened - recipient designed –Stories as discursive practices interpretation of interpersonal accomplishments - as something that is told IN CONTEXT - for interactive purposes Speaker-alignment - with audience and master narratives (‘positioning’)

story-analysis not the ‘aboutness’ of narrator’s experience or life - not speaker’s reflections on her ‘most-inner-self’ - not tapping into the narrator “dialoging with herself” rather aligning with her audience and master narratives - and in THIS process constituting a ‘sense of self’ - a subjectivity Analytically capturing (or participating) in this process - and micro-analytically describing it

Heidi used to call me her little honey for some STRANGE REASON we used to go to preschool together, right and there was that big mat like it was a big pillow in the little in the reading area and I used to like to get there wicked early cause my Dad used to work for the city, right and I used to hide in that pillow so Heidi couldn't find me, right and she used to run up there and she used to pounce on the ball she said Victor I'M GONNA FIND YOU and then I just sit there going oughhhh

(1)Bmy ex-girlfriend had like 12 ex-ex-ex-ex boyfriends she had 12 of them and she takes // the good stuff and she breaks up Vic //Heidi used to call me her little honey for some STRANGE REASON (5)we used to go to preschool together, right and there was that big mat like it was a big pillow in the little in the reading area and I used to like to get there wicked early (10)cause my Dad used to work for the city, right and I used to hide in that pillow so Heidi couldn't find me, right and she used to run up there and she used to pounce on the ball (15)she said Victor I'M GONNA FIND YOU and then I just sit there going oughhhh but she was tall when she was in preschool she was like // (20)B //she is short now Vicno she is huge Heidi Johnson Byes to YOU W she is taller she is shorter than //me B //she's shorter than me (25)Ma //shorter than me Vicno she isn't Billie she is taller than you Bneh VicI know I know //one girl who is taller than all of you (30)B no Victor Melanie Vicno Gina Byou’re right Mod//let let's not worry about that let's not worry about how tall she is but…

(1)Bmy ex-girlfriend had like 12 ex-ex-ex-ex boyfriends she had 12 of them and she takes // the good stuff and she breaks up Vic //Heidi used to call me her little honey for some STRANGE REASON (5) we used to go to preschool together, right and there was that big mat like it was a big pillow in the little in the reading area and I used to like to get there wicked early (10)cause my Dad used to work for the city, right and I used to hide in that pillow so Heidi couldn't find me, right and she used to run up there and she used to pounce on the ball (15)she said Victor I'M GONNA FIND YOU and then I just sit there going oughhhh but she was tall when she was in preschool she was like // (20)B//she is short now Vicno she is huge Heidi Johnson Byes to YOU W she is taller she is shorter than //me B //she's shorter than me (25)Ma //shorter than me Vicno she isn't Billie she is taller than you Bneh VicI know I know //one girl who is taller than all of you (30)B no Victor Melanie Vicno Gina Byou’re right Mod//let let's not worry about that let's not worry about how tall she is but…

Stories as ‘constituting’ subjectivity How so???? Who is the agent in all this? –are stories “handed” to the person who speaks them (=the stories speak themselves) –are speakers agentively inventing their own stories (+ sense of who they are)? Role of discursive practices

Story-telling as discursive practice Stories as interactive (dialogical) accounting language forms and discursive devices used to accomplish interactive accounting –interviews (clinical or biographic): no exception! No direct link from the use of particular language/discourse to the mind/inner self All interpretation has to go through an analysis of the local interactive accomplishments

ing Analyzing stories versus narrating Stories & Life as ‘resource’ –We HAVE a life/story (to tell) (as resource) –“Life is meaningful coz it’s a story” –Stories as an Epistemology anti-positivist methodology in the social sciences Narrative as social interaction –stories-in-interaction (= “small stories”) as ‘navigating’ through ‘interactive trouble’ (accounting) –stories are situated actions ðRitualized/habitual performances - sedimented through iterative performances - hailing subjects into being ðwhere subjectivities come to existence (EMERGE)

Kind of conclusion Informing narrative inquiry approaches –reflecting ‘texts’ + ‘contexts’ –re-considering the use of stories in interviews –de-emphasizing stories as ‘method’ to crack subjectivity subjectivity as an emergent property SMALL STORIES ---analyzing ‘subjectivity’ by way of studying the SMALL STORIES people tell in their EVERYDAY interactions subjectivity as process �