Kaja’s story: The importance of narrative ‘threads’ as a qualitative analysis approach

Authors

  • Caroline Lenette University of New South Wales Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/1929-8471.43

Keywords:

Refugee young people’s perspectives, identity, qualitative analysis, narrative ‘threads’, refugee woman’s narrative

Abstract

Young people’s narratives can often be reduced to mere ‘illustrative’ purposes when reporting research findings. As a result, contributions can lose their richness and yield decontextualized accounts in discussions on integration. This article highlights how using narrative ‘threads’ (Lumsden, 2013; Spence, 1983) to convey a refugee young woman’s story can value her contributions more fully, and offer contextual insights that might otherwise be missed. Her narrative emerged from a qualitative study where six refugee young people were interviewed about their experiences of international advocacy in Switzerland in 2016. Young people’s inter-woven narrative threads can better inform meaningful youth integration initiatives.

 

References

Alexandra, D. (2008). Digital storytelling as transformative practice: Critical analysis and creative expression in the representation of migration in Ireland. Journal of Media Practice, 9(2), 101-112. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/jmpr.9.2.101_1

Davy, C., Magalhães, L., Mandich, A., & Galheigo, S. (2014). Aspects of the resilience and settlement of refugee youth: A narrative study using body maps. Cadernos de Terapia Ocupacional da UFSCar, 22(2), 231-241. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4322/cto.2014.045

Hyvärinen, M., Mikkonen, K., & Mildorf, J (2008). Narrative knowing, living, telling. Partial Answers: Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas, 6(2), 225-231. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/pan.0.0021

Lumsden, D. (2013). Whole life narratives and the self. Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology, 30(1), 1-10. Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network. (2016). National Youth Settlement Framework. Available at: http://www.myan.org.au/

Polkinghorne, D. (1995). Narrative configuration in qualitative analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 8(1), 5-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0951839950080103

Spence, D. P. (1983). Narrative persuasion. Psychoanalysis & Contemporary Thought, 6(3), 457-481.

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How to Cite

Lenette, C. (2017). Kaja’s story: The importance of narrative ‘threads’ as a qualitative analysis approach. INYI Journal, 8(1), 4–7. https://doi.org/10.25071/1929-8471.43

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