ABSTRACT
We are all the tellers of stories. Stories are more than a convenient way of communicating our experiences to others; they are fundamentally the way in which we understand our lives and our selves. Indeed, philosophers (e.g., DeConcini, 1990; Ricoeur, 1991), sociolinguists (e.g., Linde, 1993; Polanyi, 1989), and psychologists (e.g., Brurier, 1987; Fivush, 1995; Gergen & Gergen, 1993; Nelson, 1993) have converged on the idea that narrative forms provide the essential meanings of experience. It is through narratives that we make sense of the world.
