ABSTRACT
As might be expected, given the academic passion for classification, the extensive literature on narrative in various disciplines abounds with discussions of typologies, dimensions and axes. In the context of political movements, Hart (1992) distinguishes between ontological (or subjective) and mobilizational (or intersubjective) narratives. Pratt (2003) suggests that identity narratives are organized along two axes. The first is biographical and stresses continuity by explaining what a collectivity is in terms of its evolution over time: for example, who the Kurds are as a function of what is narrated as their past, present and future. The second is vertical and functions through opposition; it explains who the Kurds are in terms of how they differ from a specific ‘other’, such as Iraqis or Turks.
