The ethnonarrative approach

While much research within narrative theory has focused on discourse in organizations, context should be a central focus because it is material in the production of meaning. In this article, I suggest an ethnonarrative approach that seeks to combine ethnographic methods and narrative methods in conducting hermeneutic analyses of narratives and stories, shifting not only between texts and contexts, but texts within a context of construction. Narrative research relies on analysis of various texts and often ignores context, while ethnographic methods are especially attuned to making observations and interpretations regarding the context in which texts are produced. The ethnonarrative approach highlights the multiple materials at play in narrative construction and attempts to demonstrate contextual influence on meaning making. The ethnonarrative approach is distinguished by a focus on the context of construction, the endosymbiotic relationship between text/context, and the social act as the level of analysis.