Critical narrative analysis: the interplay of critical discourse and narrative analyses

AbstractIn this article, I question the micro–macro separation in discourse analysis, the separation of personal and institutional discourses. I apply a mostly macroanalytic perspective (critical discourse analysis CDA) to inform a predominantly microanalytic perspective (analysis of conversational narratives) and vice versa. In the combination of these two analytic approaches to data analysis, I explore the connections between macro-level power inequities and micro-level interactional positionings, thereby establishing critical narrative analysis (CNA). I examine the focus of CDA on institutional discourses and problematize the definition of power discourses by looking closely at the intertextual recycling of institutional discourses in everyday narratives and at the adoption of everyday narratives in institutional discourses. Ultimately, I propose that CNA unites CDA and narrative analysis in a mutually beneficial partnership that addresses both theoretical and methodological dilemmas in discourse analysis.Keywords: discourse analysisnarrative analysiscriticaldiscoursechangemeta-awarenesspowertheorymethodologynarrativecritical narrative analysisconversational narrativesinstitutional discoursesanalytic approachesideologieslanguage colonizationlanguage appropriation Notes1. Translated from Portuguese to English by the author.2. In the USA, Creative Curriculum™ is one of the country's leading preschool curricula. It claims to be scientifically based, outcomes-focused, "research-tested," and developmentally appropriate.