Get real: Representing reality

In this article I suggest that qualitative researchers broaden the narrative strategies we employ so our texts are built more in relation to fiction and storytelling, rather than in response to logical empiricism. My point is not so much to criticize the work of others, but rather to open up a space in social science texts for a more protean and engaged portrayal of those lives we observe and live. My stimulus is a concern with the defensive posture many of us have assumed with regard to the utilization of the narrative voice. Furthermore, I am concerned that a new orthodoxy will arise where we simply replace one narrative voice with another. My assumption is that the creation of innovative narrative strategies is made that much more difficult when the author assumes a defensive posture; rather than write in relation to empiricist norms authors need to transgress those norms and invent writing strategies. In what follows, I briefly discuss the crisis in representation and I consider the responses the crisis has elicited. I then delineate my concerns with the responses and outline subsequent steps that might be taken if we want to move beyond current narrative formats.