Tales of being and knowing : women's stories of identity, subjectivity and research

Parry, Karen Deborah (2001) Tales of being and knowing : women's stories of identity, subjectivity and research. Doctoral thesis, University of Northumbria at Newcastle.

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Abstract

This thesis explores the potential of creating more empowering subjectivities, by working to replace the authority of the researcher with that of the participants. The parallels between the power relations within the research process and the participants' experiences in relation to structures of social stratification are drawn, and the potential for exploring alternative subjectivities through the reconfiguring of research relations examined. Thus representation is a key issue and visual images and stories are explored as a means of negotiating and constructing authentic and acceptable narratives about the
researcher's and participants' contributions. This is couched within the context of developing an anti-oppressive paradigm and interrogating what this means philosophically and practically within the research process. This then is a tale about researching identity and subjectivity, and the stories women constructed about participating in it. The central narrative charts the development of the study, while many other stories co-exist within the narrative, and compete for recognition. The narrative is a Postmodern one, and employs a discontinuous structure to engage the reader in an active process of reading. This mirrors the approach adopted in the study and offers the reader an experiential insight into the central methodological principles which emerged through the process. Thus as the researcher was de-centred in favour of the participants, so too within the thesis the author is de-centred in favour of the reader. The chosen presentation of the thesis is based on the premise that the meanings of the text are constructed in the
process of reading, thus readers assume authority and bring their own narratives to bear when making meaning of the text. It is not your standard thesis, but a search for other
ways of being and knowing.

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