Metaphors as Traces of Discourses in Biographical Texts

Abstract

In this article I discuss the potentials of discourse theory for biographical research from a social constructivist perspective. The connection between discourse theory and biographical research is becoming increasingly important in qualitative research. Despite this increasing importance, there are few guidelines explaining how discourses or parts of discourses can be reconstructed in biographical narratives and how the complex relation of temporality and narration can be taken into consideration. This contribution focuses on these issues and suggests the analysis of metaphors as a possible means to reconstruct discourses or parts of them in biographical narratives. Two examples will illustrate this perspective. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs070139

Keywords

• biographical research
• theory of discourse
• analysis of metaphors
• constitution of subjects
• positioning of subjects
• temporality and narration