Narrative Stories as Knowledge: A Curated Reading List on Narrative Research

At the heart of narrative research lies a deep conviction: that stories matter, not just as data, but as ways of knowing, being, and resisting. This carefully curated bibliography brings together foundational texts, contemporary debates, and emerging approaches in narrative inquiry across education, social sciences, and cultural studies. From Bruner’s paradigmatic shifts and Ricoeur’s philosophy of narrative time to Clandinin and Connelly’s experiential methodologies and Riessman’s influential analytic frameworks, this list is both a guide and an invitation. Whether you’re a doctoral researcher, qualitative scholar, or a practitioner interested in the ethical, political, and epistemological dimensions of storytelling, you’ll find perspectives here that challenge, inspire, and illuminate.

Compiled to support critical, reflective, and situated engagements with narrative as a method, practice, and theory, this list curated by Dr Ameya Sawadkar, also reflects his ongoing commitment to interdisciplinary, humanistic, and creative inquiry.

Andrews, M., Squire, C., & Taboukou, M. (Eds.). (2008). Doing narrative research SAGE.

Barone, T. E. (1992). “Beyond theory and method: A case of critical storytelling. Theory into Practice, 31(2):142–146.

Bold, C. (2011). Using narrative in research. SAGE.

Bruner, J. (1985). Narrative and paradigmatic modes of thought. In E. Eisner (Ed.), Learning and teaching ways of knowing (pp. 97–115). National Society for the Study of Education.

Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Harvard University Press. Bruner, J. (1987). Life as narrative. Social Research, 54, 11–32.

Clandinin, D. J. (2013). Engaging in narrative inquiry. Left Coast Press.

Clandinin, D. J., Ed. (2007). Handbook of narrative inquiry. SAGE Publications.

Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. Jossey-Bass.

Clandinin, D. J., Murphy, M. S., Huber, J., & Orr, A. M. (2009). Negotiating narrative inquiries: Living in a tension-filled midst. Journal of Educational Research, 103(2), 81–90. doi: 10.1080/00220670903323404

Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1990). Stories of experience and narrative inquiry. Educational Researcher, 19(4), 2–14.

Connolly, K. (2007). Introduction to Part 2: Exploring Narrative Inquiry Practices. Qualitative Inquiry, 13(4), 450–453.

Cortazzi, M. (1993). Narrative analysis. Falmer.

Cortazzi, M. (2001). Narrative analysis in ethnography. In P. Atkinson, A. Coffey, S. Delamont, J. Lofland & L. Lofland (Eds.), Handbook of ethnography (pp. 384–394). SAGE.

Danto, A. (1985). Narration and knowledge. Columbia University Press.

De Fina, A. (2009). Narratives in interview — The case of accounts For an interactional approach to narrative genres. Narrative Inquiry, 19(2), 233–258. doi: 10.1075/ni.19.2.03def

Downey, C. A., & Clandinin, D. J. (2010). Narrative inquiry as reflective practice: Tensions and possibilities. In N. Lyons (Ed.), Handbook of Reflection and Reflective Inquiry (pp. 383397). Springer.

Elbaz-Luwisch, F. (1997). Narrative research: Political issues and implications. Teaching and Teacher Education, 13(1), 75–83.

Elliott, J. (2005). Using narrative in social research : Qualitative and quantitative approaches. SAGE.

Hendry, P. M. (2007). The future of narrative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 13(4), 487–498. doi: 10.1177/1077800406297673

Hendry, P. M. (2009). Narrative as inquiry. Journal of Educational Research, 103(2), 72–80. doi: 10.1080/00220670903323354

Hendry, P. M., Mitchell, R. W., & Eaton, P. W. (2018). Troubling method: Narrative research as being. Peter Lang.

Herman, L., & Vervaeck, B. (2001/2005). Handbook of narrative analysis. Translated by L. Herman & B. Vervaeck. University of Nebraska Press.

Holley, K. A., & Colyar, J. (2009). Rethinking texts: Narrative and the construction of qualitative research. Educational Researcher, 38(9), 680–686.

Holstein, J. A., & Gubrium, J. F. (2011). Varieties of narrative analysis. SAGE.

Hyvärinen, M. (Ed.). (2010). Beyond narrative coherence John Benjamins Publishing.

Josselson, R., & Lieblich, A. (Eds.). (1993). The narrative study of lives. SAGE.

Josselson, R., Ed. (1996). Ethics and process in the narrative study of lives. SAGE.

Josselson, R., & Lieblich, A. Eds. (1993). The narrative study of lives. SAGE.

Kim, J.-H. (2016). Understanding narrative inquiry. SAGE.

Kramer, M. (1992). Stories we tell and retell: The role of narrative. Change, July/August:51–52.

Kramp, M. K. (2004). Exploring life and experience through narrative inquiry. In deMarrais, K. & Lapan, S. (Eds.). Foundations for research: Methods of inquiry in education and the social sciences (pp. 103–121). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Chapter 3

Kramp, M. K. and W. L. Humphreys (1993). Narrative, self-assessment, and the reflective learner. College Teaching, 41(3): 83–88.

Lewis, H. M. and S. O’Donnell (1990). Telling our stories: Sharing our lives. Ivanhoe, VA, The Ivanhoe Civic League.

Labov, W. (1972). The transformation of experience in narrative syntax. In W. Labov (Ed.), Language in the inner city (pp. 352–396). University of Pennsylvania.

Lieblich, A., Tuval-Mashiach, R., & Zilber, T. (1998). Narrative research: Reading, analysis and interpretation. SAGE Publications.

Maarit, L.-K. (2008). Narrating life stories in between the fictional and the autobiographical. Qualitative Research, 8(3), 325–332. Maynes, M. J., & Pierce, J. L. (2008). Telling stories: the use of personal narratives in the social sciences and history. Cornell University Press. McCormack, C. (2000a). From interview transcript to interpretive story: Part 1 — Viewing the transcript through multiple lenses. Field methods, 12(4), 282–297.

McCormack, C. (2000b). From interview transcript to interpretive story: Part 2 — Developing an interpretive story. Field Methods, 12(4), 298–315.

Mishler, E. (1986). Research interviewing: Context and narrative. Harvard University Press.

Mishler, E. G. (1995). Models of narrative analysis: A typology. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 5(2), 87–123.

Polkinghorne, D. E. (1988). Narrative knowing and the human sciences. NY: State University of New York Press.

Polkinghorne, D. E. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 8(1), 5–23.

Polkinghorne, D. E. (2007). Validity Issues in Narrative Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 13(4), 471–486.

Ricoeur, P. (1981). Narrative time. Critical Inquiry, 7, 165–186. Ricoeur, P. (1984). Time and narrative. University of Chicago Press.

Riessman, C. K. (1993). Narrative analysis. SAGE Publications.

Riessman, C. K. (2002). Analysis of personal narratives. In J. Gubrium & J. A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of interview research: Context and method (pp. 695–710). SAGE Publications.

Riessman, C. K. (2008). Narrative methods for the human sciences. Los Angeles: Sage.

Rosiek, J. (2007). Introduction to Part 1: Horizons of Narrative Inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry, 13(4), 447–449.

Sandelowski, M. (1991). Telling stories: Narrative approaches in qualitative research. Image: Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 23: 161–166.

Schriffen, D. (1996). Narrative as self-portrait: Sociolinguistic constructions of identity. Language in Society, 25, 167–203.

Schiffrin, D., De Fina, A., & Nylund, A. (2010). Telling stories: language, narrative, and social life. Georgetown University Press.

Sikes, P. (2010). The ethics of writing life histories and narratives in educational research. In A.M. Bathmaker & P. Harnett (Eds.), Exploring learning, identity, and power through life history and narrative research (pp. 11–24). Routledge.

Sparkes, A., & Smith, B. (2008). Narrative constructionist inquiry. In J. A. Holstein & J. F. Gubrium. (Eds.), Handbook of constructionist research (pp. 295–314). Guilford Press.

Spector-Mersel, G. (2011). Mechanisms of selection in claiming narrative identities: A model for interpreting narratives. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(2), 172–185.

Spector-Mersel, G. (2010). Narrative research: Time for a paradigm. Narrative Inquiry, 20(1), 204–224. doi: 10.1075/ni.20.1.10spe

Spence, D. P. (1982). Narrative truth and historical truth: Meaning and interpretation in pscyhoanalysis. W.W. Norton.

Tierney, W. G. (1994). Refraining the narrative voice in educational research. Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 16(1), 87–92.

Webster, L., & Mertova, P. (2007). Using narrative inquiry as a research method: An introduction to using critical event narrative analysis in research on learning and teaching Routledge.

Weiland, S. (2003). Writers as readers in narrative inquiry: Learning from biography. In R. Josselson, A. Lieblich & D. P. McAdams (Eds.), Up close and personal: The teaching and learning of narrative research. (pp. 199–214). American Psychological Association.

Weiler, K. (1992). Remembering and representing life choices: A critical perspective on teachers’ oral history narratives. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 5(1): 39–50.

Wellin, C. (2007). Narrative interviewing: Process and benefits in teaching about aging and the life course. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 28(1), 79–99.

Wertz, F. J., Charmaz, K., McMullen, L. M., Josselson, R., Anderson, R., & McSpadden, E. (2011). Five ways of doing qualitative analysis: Phenomenological psychology, grounded theory, discourse analysis, narrative research, and intuitive inquiry The Guilford Press.

White, H. V. (1981). The concept of the form: Narrative discourse and historical representation. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Wilson, R. A. (2007). Combining historical research and narrative inquiry to create chronicles and narratives. The Qualitative Report, 12(1), 20–39.

Witherell, C., & Noddings, N. (Eds.). (1991). Stories lives tell: Narrative and dialogue in education. Teachers College Press.

Wolgemuth, J. R. (2014). Analyzing for critical resistance in narrative research. Qualitative Research, 14(5), 586–602. https://doi.org/doi:10.1177/1468794113501685

Yardley, A. (2008). Living stories: The role of the researcher in the narration of life. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 9(3).