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Endings, secrets, and silences: Overreading in narrative inquiry
Author(s) -
Poirier Suzanne,
Ayres Lioness
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
research in nursing and health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1098-240X
pISSN - 0160-6891
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-240x(199712)20:6<551::aid-nur9>3.0.co;2-l
Subject(s) - narrative , psychology , psychoanalysis , medicine , history , literature , art
Qualitative researchers seek to understand the words of the people they interview and may use narrative inquiry to find meaning in the stories told by research participants. Narrative inquiry entails “overreading,” a sensitivity to unspoken or indirect statement, which is central to interpretation. Some of the tools of the literary overreader are applied to two research interviews, particularly as they direct readers to attend to inconsistencies, endings, repetitions, and silence. Because overreading is also intrusive, we conclude with some considerations about how far the overreader of the research may legitimately go. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Res Nurs Health 20: 551–557, 1997