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When Story Becomes Theory: Storytelling as Sociological Theorizing

Asia-Pacific Social Science Review

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Field Value
 
Title When Story Becomes Theory: Storytelling as Sociological Theorizing
 
Creator Erasga, Dennis S; De La Salle University
 
Subject Social Science
storytelling; social theory; sociology of literature; story of sociology
 
Description Sociological imagination is an open invitation to theorize via the stories we tell ourselves and others. The essay explores how literary narratives mediate social reality and in the process, become genuine and legitimate materials for sociological theorizing. To do so, the paper traces the epistemic affinity of sociology and literature, examines the issues endemic in the field of sociology of literature, and assesses their implications in the search for new directions in sociological theorizing. Using the auto/biographical genre, this essay (1) appraises how storytelling as a discursive art weaves different categories of narratives that describe different layers of experience; and, (2) argues that for theorizing purposes, this type of material should neither be read with purely dramatic nor documentary interests, but in terms of its interpretive affordances. Retelling the story of symbolic interactionism, the essay ends with a challenge to sociological theorizing that is receptive to and facilitative of possibilities for searching the social in the literary. Keywords: storytelling; social theory; sociology of literature; story of sociology DOI: 10.3860/apssr.v10i1.1579Asia-Pacific Social Science Review 10:1 (2010), pp. 21-38
 
Publisher De La Salle University
 
Contributor —
 
Date 2010-07-01
 
Type Peer-reviewed Article
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Format application/pdf
 
Identifier http://www.philjol.info/philjol/index.php/APSSR/article/view/1579
10.3860/apssr.v10i1.1579
 
Source Asia-Pacific Social Science Review; Vol 10, No 1 (2010); 21-38
 
Language en
 
Coverage Philippines
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