ENAS & NANAS Talks

• Prof. Kate de Medeiros: The “Me” Beyond the Story: Personal Objects as Narrative Power in Research Interviews, March 4, 2022, 18:00 (CET)

Sometimes before the start of a scheduled qualitative interview, participants give unsolicited personal objects, such as resumes or photos, to the interviewer. Although the interviewer may mention the object briefly in the interview or the subsequent field notes, the personal object itself is typically not discussed in depth or critically analyzed, partially because many interviewers are unclear what to make of them. Consequently, personal objects in the context of interviews have been undertheorized and underappreciated. In this paper, I explore how unsolicited personal objects function as a type of narrative positioning aimed at expressing aspects of self and identity that go beyond what is possible in the interview. Using examples from interviews conducted during studies on suffering and generativity in later life, I consider examples of personal objects in the interview process and suggest ways to incorporate them in interviews to achieve a more equitable power balance between interviewer and interview participant.

More about the talk and the speaker: here

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