Beneath and beyond truth: studying literary narratives to research human phenomena

The majority of social scientists continue to dismiss literary narratives as data that might lead to complex understandings of human phenomena. Introducing a method I call ‘novel inquiry’, I argue that literary narratives merit inclusion as a source of data for educational inquiry. Utilizing literary narratives as a data source expands and redefines the current qualitative methodological landscape because its researchers focus on discovering Bruner’s ‘more’ beneath surface meaning, more beyond surface truth. To meet the challenge raised by defenders of empirically‐driven research I take on the epistemic arguments that underlie how some data are characterized as legitimate and truthful while others are fictional and untranslatable, detail parallels between the philosophies of method of science and the humanities, and offer examples and insights reflecting what might be gained from such a practice. By way of illustrating my claims, I provide an example from my own work with Cather’s novel The Song of the Lark and counterpose an example of an empirically‐driven study. Of particular value to educational research, such a practice might be used to uncover how education is contextualized in the lives of individuals, provide deep and varied sources of historical narrative on educational practice, and represents an untapped form of information on how individuals think and learn.