The Handbook of Narrative Analysis

"This Handbook provides a rich theoretical framework for working closely with narratives. While much of narrative inquiry focuses on texts, this collection and the work it builds on shifts the focus to an analysis of practice-based social interaction. Covering a wide range of topics, this book will make an important contribution to our understanding of how to analyze the socio-cultural and discursive contexts in which narratives are always embedded." Molly Andrews, Co-Director, Centre for Narrative Research, University of East London, UK "The Handbook thoughtfully addresses both the internal structure and the external conditions of accounts, bringing the analysis of stories into the stream of everyday life. A major contribution to the growing interest in this important crossroads of narrative practice, it is interdisciplinary, accessible, and highly recommended." Jaber F. Gubrium, University of Missouri, USA Featuring contributions from leading scholars in the field, The Handbook of Narrative Analysis is the first comprehensive collection of sociolinguistic scholarship on narrative analysis to be published. The collection includes chapters that exhibit the latest advances in narrative analysis, from work on social media to small stories research, as well as essays that address topics traditionally shaped and influenced by narrative inquiry, such as researcher reflexivity, embodiment, story ownership, and chronotopic configurations. Organized thematically to provide a guide for approaching the study of narrative without prescribing a rigid framework for analysis, the Handbook strikes an ideal balance between theoretical framing and the demonstration of specific analytical approaches. Edited by two leading authorities on narrative research, and pioneers of the practice-based approach to narrative analysis, this Handbook will be an essential resource for anyone interested in better understanding the stories we tell and why we tell them.