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Black Women and Critical Narrative Inquiry

Fri, April 8, 4:05 to 5:35pm, Marriott Marquis, Floor: Level Four, Liberty Salon P

Abstract

The presenter for the second presentation, “Black Women, Critical Narrative Inquiry, and Projects in Humanization,” will characterize the specific methodological underpinnings of their work (e.g., stories, storytelling) by describing a dialogic conversational process referred to as “Projects in
Humanization” (see Kinloch & San Pedro, 2014). This process transformed the traditional one-way dynamic of a typical and formal interview structure by inviting members of an intergenerational group of Black women to be both interviewer and interviewee, participant and researcher. In this way, the Black women within this community became intimately familiar with each other through the group sharing of stories, which is an integral component in Collins’ (2000) Black feminist thought. With stories shared and listened to in group settings, participants then collectively employed a second methodological phase that speaks to critical narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; see also Smith, 2012; Riessman, 1993). That is, they also engaged in one-on-one conversational interviews as a way to better understand how stories, conversations, and lived experiences—as units of analysis—afford opportunities to consider how identities, personally-and politically-situated stories, and cultural ways of knowing serve as responses to oppressive forces. This presenter, then, describes the intricate, nuanced methodological processes utilized in this intergenerational community as she sheds light on how participants shared stories—in group settings, in conversational interviews, and from audio-recorded data-member checking sessions— in ways that contextualized their experiences within Black cultural-historical perspectives.
Specifically, this second presenter asks and responds to the following questions: What is the value of a critical narrative analysis approach to understanding the specific individual and collective experiences of Black women participating in an intergenerational community of practice? How might a dialogic approach to storytelling contribute to a humanizing approach to understanding Black women’s stories? What is the role of participants-as-researchers and of interviewers-as-interviewees?

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