'The Poem's Invitation': Ricoeur's Concept of Mimesis and its Consequences for Narrative Educational Research

Abstract

After the presentation of different views on the relation between narrative and life it is argued that Paul Ricoeur's view offers a framework that allows an answer to questions that remain unanswered in the work of MacIntyre and Carr. Although Ricoeur's view has its own flaws, the concepts of triple mimesis and of narrative identity can be incorporated in a post-foundationalist view. Within this resulting frame of reference narratives in narrative research are interpreted as compositions, as the result of emplotment. Thus the characteristics of a narrative apply to the participant's stories, to personal identity and to the researcher's narrative.