Konstruování „životního příběhu“ jako adekvátní nástroj vědeckého nahlížení

Abstract

In my contribution I will focus on the analysis of three narrative interviews made in Palestine during my field research there in 2009-2011. People in the area of Bethlehem live their lives in a complicated political and economic environment. Their lives are influenced both by internal and external factors. The basic question I want to answer in my contribution is, whether it is possible to use a biography of an individual as a representative of the whole group of people researched. What needs to be kept in mind by the researcher, if they want to make use of this theoretical approach? What benefits can they expect from it? Is biography as such an adequate scientific tool at all?In the introduction of the article I discuss the narrative interview as a methodological tool, which is often employed to collect biographical data, and which I often use in my research. This tool, however, is not the only one to be employed by the researcher. The narrative interview should always be supplemented by other data collection methods, so as to have a possibility to distinguish the narrative fiction of the interviewee and his or her “reality”. It is also important to recognize the interpretation of the interviewee`s life events which help him / her to create a meaningful life story.The second part of the article focuses on a concrete paradigmatic example. In it, I look for a common aspect in the three biographies. Using this aspect as a basis, I explore the whole researched group.