Thesis as Narrative or “What Is the Inquiry in Narrative Inquiry?”

Abstract

I present elements of inquiry in a dissertation composed through experiential narrative. My account of the thesis process is interwoven with references to John Dewey’s demonstrations of implicit inquiry in the creation and experience of art. Motivation, methodology, outcomes and literature review take on a narrative character and I show how aesthetic and reflective activities contributed to the inquiry. Conceptually, a “tension-telos dynamic” characterizes the impetus for the work; “resonance” is portrayed as the connecting principle among various narrative components of the thesis, and the function of a “third term” in metaphorical relationships is presented as a structuring principle for these connections. Although my inquiry came about through personal stories, my narratives reached out to social, historical and philosophical contexts to gain a wider significance, academically and personally.