Toward Creative Narrative Inquiry: A Critical Approach for Ethical and Power-Conscious Storytelling

• In Event: Lived Experiences and Exceptional Futures

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the possibilities of a creative narrative inquiry methodological approach to research. Specifically, I wrestle with the pathways to short-story and creative non-fiction as a form of reporting research, and what potential narrative research designs are conducive and connected to those pathways. Grounded in narrative inquiry traditional perspectives paired with critical perspectives (critical race theory, endarkened feminist epistemology and the power-conscious framework) I propose a direction toward a creative narrative inquiry methodology as used in my recent study/writing about college students engaged in sex work.

Author

• Terah J. Stewart, Iowa State University