Autobiographical Narrative as a Methodological Instrument of the Network of Meanings

Abstract

Abstract This article briefly presents the theoretical-methodological perspective of the Network of Meanings and its methodological implications. The aim is to question the use of autobiographical narratives as a possible methodological tool to approach the study of development, with the specificity of understanding processes of constitutive transformations in human ontogenesis, from an interactional perspective, as is the case of the Network of Meanings. We revisit a study based on autobiographical narratives with five adult drag queens, aged between 20 and 39 years old, exploring personal and artistic experiences. Their narratives were analyzed microgenetically and some central concepts of the Network of Meanings were raised - dialogic interactive fields, socio-historical matrix, and temporalities. The autobiographical narrative of the participants constitutes a fruitful field of qualitative analysis, allowing us to approach the processes of change and transformation throughout life. As a result, a dialogue between Developmental Psychology and Social and Cultural Psychology is promoted.

Keywords

• methodology
• autobiography
• qualitative research
• human development
• gender