Identity and narrative as root metaphors of personhood

Narrative and identity are concepts that contain the paradoxes of personhood: they encompass the problem of continuity and change over the life course and the phenomena of meaning-making. Both –fuzzy— and fluid in their definitions, they denote but do not limit the ways in which people make sense of their experiences and locate themselves in society and in time. The concepts of narration and identity are used in many ways and carry a variety of meanings in current psychological literature. Narration refers to the act of producing a story, either oral or written. The relevant narration for the study of identity is narration about the self, personal accounts, life stories, or autobiographical narratives. Most psychologists use the terms narrative and story as synonyms. Some equate the term narrative with any verbal utterance, talk, or text, while others limit the use of the term to verbal products that conform to a list of formal criteria. For the sake of clarity in the present chapter, we use the terms self narrative or life story for a specific genre of discourse, centered around the narrator and his or her life – not including chronicles, reports, arguments, question and answer exchanges etc. What distinguishes narrative from other forms of discourse is, according to Riessman, its “sequence and consequence.” A number of events are selected, organized, connected, and evaluated in a story which has a beginning and an end, carrying some meaning or a lesson for a particular audience.