Narrative Identity - We are our stories

Abstract

The narrative identity consists of an individual’s stories. In this chapter we describe what narrative identity is. We illustrate how identity narratives are created through self-biographical reasoning about experiences in life such as high points, important turning points, and difficult experiences. We describe narrative identity development and narrative identity research. Moreover, we highlight research on narrative identity that could be relevant to narrative medicine. We focus on the structure of identity narratives (how the story is told) and content as well as how this is influenced by cultural context. We also highlight connections between narrative identity and wellbeing. The chapter ends with concluding remarks on why narrative identity can be useful for narrative medicine.