Storyworlding: an outline of the philosophic commitments and research applications of a new feminist methodology*

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a new feminist methodology, storyworlding. Storyworlding is a feminist, participatory methodology to engage in culturally informed and ethnographically rich stories through which we establish our being together. The paper explores crucial onto-epistemological shifts in two important concepts—world and story as the basis for how we engaged storyworlding while also advancing the Marxist idea of praxis in order to propose a social just orientation of collective doing and becoming. Our methodological contribution includes identifying four key momentums we affiliate with storyworlding practices. We conclude with a conceptualization of Storyworlding as Collective Self-Agency and the methodological implications of that conceptualization.

Keywords:

• Storyworlding
• feminist methodology
• storymapping
• lifestory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 One evening, after the FRC had led a workshop on storyworlding, Pengfei and her partner, Alec, were cooking dinner in their kitchen, Pengfei was so excited about the workshop that she could not stop telling him about it. But she found herself struggling to express what had happened in the workshop.  “We told the stories of the women we love… Hmm… Actually, the women we love, two of them, shared their stories with the rest of us… Well, you know, there is also a map. It’s also about mapping the stories out, globally… You know what, it’s not only about mapping them out. That’s not exactly what we want.”  And there was a silence. Then, she continued, “We need to give a name to this. I don’t know how to talk about it.” After another short pause, Pengfei recalled a literature scholar who self-identifies as an ally of feminist work, “It’s about story mapping, hmm… not mapping…telling…” “What about ‘worlding’?” And, Alec suggested, “YES! STORYWORLDING!”

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Center for Excellence for women in technology.

Notes on contributors

Barbara Dennis

Barbara Dennis is a Professor of qualitative inquiry in the School of Education at Indiana University. She enjoys sewing, family, and walking. Her favorite composer is her husband, Cicada Dennis.

Pengfei Zhao

Pengfei Zhao holds a doctoral degree in inquiry methodology from Indiana University Bloomington. She is currently an Assistant Professor of qualitative methodology in the College of Education at the University of Florida. In her theoretical and empirical work, she draws widely from critical theories to contemporary pragmatism, feminism, and postcolonial studies to formulate a praxis- and social justice-oriented research methodology.