Abstract:
This paper explores the definition and boundaries of ‘narrative’. First, focusing on narratives’ movement or succession of signs and building of meanings, it argues for the decentring of temporality and the recognition of ‘narrative’ in, for instance, still images. Second, taking into account the particularities of narratives, the paper examines how narrative research can allow for transferability and heuristics, rather than generalisability and predictivity. In the case of the extreme particularity of exceptional narratives, the paper argues that these operate as important interruptors of existing theory and calls to consider phenomena that have not yet been addressed.
Keywords:
Narrative; Particularity; Exception