Towards a multimethodological approach to identification of funds of identity, small stories and master narratives

Abstract

The narrative turn in social and human sciences has led us to consider identity as a narrative phenomenon. We can classify most of the approaches that have been developed by the emphasis they put on the “subject” in the analysis. For some, the subject is the first person singular, who puts into order and constructs an internalized life story so as to give purpose and coherence to different life experiences. For others, the emphasis is on the relationship between the first and second person, the I-you, in conversational situations located in time and space. Still others argue that narratives — repertoires of behaviour and identity — are shared artefacts, of historical origin and their content is social, political and cultural (i.e., “we” and “they”). However, in all these approaches there is agreement that narratives of identity are cultural products, inseparable from the social, institutional, geographic and cultural forces which comprise what I call funds of identity. The aim of this article is to suggest the need to adopt a qualitative multi-methodological approach aimed at studying these funds of identity, thus complementing the general use of in-depth interviews.