What Is a Good Story?

Abstract

There are all kinds of stories, from the founding sagas of nations and accounts of social change to narratives of growing up, overcoming life hurdles, and adjusting to a new environment. Some stories are fictional, some disinformation (deliberately deceptive), others are presented as true descriptions of what really happened, or would have happened if circumstances had been different. Whether stories center on individuals or larger social forms such as families and communities, and however true to life they are, stories are part and parcel of the way we know ourselves and our world. Indeed, it has been said that life comes to us in the form of stories-we do not have unmediated access to our lives, but rather we know them through stories. Narrative is an integral feature of experience, not merely a conduit for representing it. That narrative is part of experience is evident in the ordinary ways we respond to things and events. A life crisis, such as a divorce or the death of a loved one, is not so much known in its immediate ebb and flow as through attempts to understand what has happened and to construct a framework for responding to it. These attempts are full of narrative, as a divorce, say, is thought through, reflected upon, come to terms with, or lamented endlessly in the various accountings we and others bring to the matter (see Riessman, 1990). The story of someone else's divorce may bring light to, and a different way of accounting for, one's own divorce, with the resulting emotional and moral consequences. A new way of viewing future prospects for collective solidarity, embedded in a widely shared narrative of ethnic identity, functions similarly, for good or ill (compare Edelman, 1967; Rosenwald and Ochberg, 1992; Nagel, 1997). My concern is with personal narratives, especially stories told about caring and caregiving in relation to Alzheimer's disease (Gubrium, 2000). Here, too, experience comes to us in the form of stories. What we and others relate about growing old, how we care for ourselves and for others, and the prospects for living with dementia, is drawn through the various ways we view the story of what has happened. In particular, I am concerned with the good story, the narrative that provides a satisfactory understanding of aging, caregiving, and cognitive impairment. The good story does not always convey good news. Rather it is satisfactory because it relates well to what we otherwise sense has happened or will happen, the sense of which is also mediated by stories. The good story is good because, for better or worse, it fits our views of what a proper or useful narrative of the subject matter would be. My research has centered on how stories work in practice, focused in this case on how those who care for people with Alzheimer's disease assemble satisfactory understandings of their experience (Gubrium, 1986; Gubrium and Lynott, 1985). It is an important question because those concerned seek understanding in order to take what they believe are appropriate actions in their situations. In everyday life, making decisions and taking action are not the consequence of a predetermined calculus of costs and benefits, rationality, and risk factors. Rather, costs, benefits, sound reasoning, and risk, among other things, are narratively organized; they are articulated and understood through storytelling. CRITERIA FOR THE GOOD STORY The research showed initially that satisfactory narratives centered on familiar criteria. Variously challenged to convey their stories, subjects responded in ways suggesting that a good story was one that rang true. Time and again, in support groups for caregivers of people with Alzheimer's and in interviews with family members and significant others, participants referred to this criterion. For example, following frightening stories of encounters with spouses who for the first time failed to recognize their husbands or wives, it was not uncommon for odier group participants to respond with comments such as, Yes, that's exactly the way it was for me, That's telling it like it is, and That's what it is in a nutshell. …