Premium
Narrative Making and Remaking in the Early Years: Prelude to the Personal Narrative
Author(s) -
Miller Peggy J.,
Chen Eva ChianHui,
Olivarez Megan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
new directions for child and adolescent development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1534-8687
pISSN - 1520-3247
DOI - 10.1002/cad.20064
Subject(s) - narrative , narrative criticism , narrative inquiry , personal narrative , psychology , ethnography , context (archaeology) , narrative network , sociology , aesthetics , history , literature , anthropology , art , archaeology
Although very young children are unable to formulate a personal narrative of the life course, their everyday lives are steeped in narratives. Drawing on ethnographic studies in diverse sociocultural worlds, we argue that the early years of life form a vital preamble to the personal narrative. In this phase of life, the universal predisposition to narrative takes root and burgeons as young children step into whichever narrative practices are at hand, practices that are culturally differentiated from the beginning. As children narrate their experiences, they orient themselves in time and establish the interpretive grounds for intelligibility. This process is highly dynamic. Stories recur, stories are repeated, stories are revamped, and stories disappear. These dynamics constitute, for many children, an intense narrative initiation that defines early childhood as a developmental context. By the end of early childhood, they are well versed in making and remaking narratives and show an incipient ability to open a wider temporal window on their own experience. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.