Endarkened narrative inquiry: a methodological framework constructed through improvisations

Abstract

This paper traces the improvisational moves the authors had to make, as a Black woman graduate student and an Indian woman dissertation supervisor in a predominantly white space in academia, to cultivate a framework informed by Black feminist thought, womanism, endarkened feminist epistemology, and narrative inquiry in qualitative research. Conducting culturally situated inquiry in hostile spaces characterized by disproportionate power relations and multiple interconnected oppressive structures makes us vulnerable in the bodies in which we do this work. In this paper, we discuss the creation of an endarkened approach to narrative inquiry through methodological improvisation.

Keywords:

• Endarkened
• Womanism
• Black feminist thought
• spirituality
• narrative inquiry

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1 References to Black women emerge out of the literature review, the participants’ experiences, and the first author’s understanding of Black culture based on her personal and professional experiences. We do not understand the category of Black women to be a monolith. While the use of Black is grounded culturally and historically, the instances in which the term African American appears are guided by the specific scholars’ use of the term in the context when they are cited in this paper.

2 Terminology used by Dillard (2000).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Keondria McClish-Boyd

Keondria is an independent scholar whose work focuses on the development of Black women and families. She holds a Ph.D. in adult learning and leadership from Kansas State University.

Kakali Bhattacharya

Kakali Bhattacharya is an award-winning professor at University of Florida housed in Research, Evaluation, and Measurement Program. She is the 2018 winner of AERA's Mid-Career Scholar of Color Award. Her co-authored text with Kent Gillen, Power, Race, and Higher Education: A Cross-Cultural Parallel Narrative has won a 2017 Outstanding Publication Award from AERA (SIG 168) and a 2018 Outstanding Book Award from International Congress of Qualitative Research.