Constructing Identity

Narratives are powerful because they are stories. They are the stories we tell about ourselves that fix our place in time and link our memories with events. They bring coherency to our experiences (Bojea, & Rhodesb, 2005) and help us create meaning (Polkinghorne, 1988). When our stories are woven into a comprehensive narrative, they become the way we know ourselves and our larger society (Denzin, 2000) as well as the main source of knowledge in our organizing (Brown & Humphreys, 2002).

The narrative of everyday life is a timing of activity in an attempt at making sense of our experiences. It provides rhythm to the social order (Patriotta, 2003) and through it we relate what is past to what is present, organizing the experience of time into a personal history (Richardson, 1990). Richardson stated:

People organize their personal biographies and understand them through the stories they create to explain and justify their life experiences. When people are asked why they do what they do, they provide narrative explanations. It is the way individuals understand their own lives and best understand the lives of others. (p. 126)

In forming these narratives, our memories refer to events that are known and verifiable, the same memories that provide us a sense of personal coherence and integrity. In effect, they help form the basis of our personal identity (Fivush & Neisser, 1994) and make change of our identity perceived differently than change to our identity; where the one is self-orchestrated, the other is imposed by the changing narratives of our work-life (Lundberg, 1999).