Personal narratives: Perspectives on theory and research

Abstract

Personal narratives are studied in many disciplines, but theoretical analysis of the personal narrative has lagged behind research. This essay presents five perspectives on the personal narrative as communication and performance by analyzing definitions of text, context, and concepts in current research: personal narrative as story‐text, personal narrative as storytelling performance, personal narrative as conversational interaction, personal narrative as social process, and personal narrative as political praxis. The analysis clarifies the nature and function of personal narrative and generates insight into the issues, innovations, and politics of studying personal narratives.