Applying the approach of narrative agency: A dialogue between theory, reading group practices, and analysis of participants’ experiences

Kinnunen, Eevastiina; Meretoja, Hanna; Kosonen, Päivi

doi:10.1075/ni.22029.kin

Article published In:

Applied Narratology
Edited by Sjoerd-Jeroen Moenandar, Laura Karttunen and Anna Ovaska
[Narrative Inquiry 34:2] 2024
► pp. 281–306

Applying the approach of narrative agency

A dialogue between theory, reading group practices, and analysis of participants’ experiences

Eevastiina Kinnunen | University of Turku

Hanna Meretoja | University of Turku

Päivi Kosonen | University of Turku

In this article, we discuss a dialogue between narrative theory, reading group practices, and analysis of reading group participants’ experiences. Hanna Meretoja’s theory of narrative agency has informed us in developing a new reading group model that aims to enhance the participants’ narrative agency, and, in turn, the analysis of the reading group experiences provides us with new knowledge on the reading group model, as well as on the theoretical approach. We explore narrative agency analysis as a tool to analyze interviews, and our analysis of three participants’ experiences illustrates how narrative agency can manifest itself in various forms. It also demonstrates that the enhanced ability to navigate narrative environments can be highly meaningful on a personal level. The article suggests that, despite its challenges, this kind of research approach, combining theory and practice, enriches and expands the possibilities of literary studies.

Keywords: narrative agency, narrative hermeneutics, reading groups, metanarrative reading group model, narrative agency reading group model, narrative awareness, narrative imagination, narrative dialogicality, applied narrative theory, empirical literary studies

Article outline

Introduction
Applying the theory of narrative agency and metanarrativity in reading group practices
Research design, methods, and narrative agency analysis
Juha’s reading group experience: The critical potential of narrative awareness
Oskari’s reading group experience: The enriching power of narrative imagination in life-storying
Milla’s reading group experience: The multifacetedness of narrative dialogicality in practice
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
Notes
References

Published online: 13 February 2024

https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.22029.kin

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