Coping With Trauma Through Fictional Narrative Ethnography: A Primer

Abstract

This article, written as a letter to the editor, is in response to Journal of Loss and Trauma's original rejection of our fictional narrative autoethnography. We introduce this method and argue that our fictionalization of part of the narrative is not a departure from other narrative ethnographic work and serves several purposes relevant to JLT: It was therapeutic to the authors; it conveyed meaning that could not have been conveyed in a more traditional manner; it served as a metaphor for a resistance narrative against the culturally canonical story of suffering victim; and it provided a shared cultural story that allowed us to connect with many women in our generation. We suggest that narrative “truth” should be concerned with how the story is used and understood. We advocate that methods such as this give voice to stories that are difficult to tell and understand, and open spaces to reflect alternative ways of knowing.