African Oral Tradition of Storytelling as Narrative Analysis in Narrative Inquiry Methodological Approach

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 5
  In Roundtable Session: Methods and Methodology

Abstract

This paper is a proposal for the use of African oral tradition of storytelling as narrative analysis in the narrative inquiry methodological approach in the study of African and African immigrant experiences. Using Polkinghorne’s (1995) definition of narrative inquiry as “a subset of qualitative research designs in which stories are used to describe human action” (P. 5) and his distinction between narrative analysis and analysis of narratives, coupled with aspects of African oral narrative/tradition, I create what I call African Oral Traditional Narrative Inquiry. In this approach, African indigenous knowledge and oral traditional styles and worldview are used in the examination of African and African immigrant experiences.

Author

• Araba A. Z. Osei-Tutu, Purdue University