Oral Narrative Research with Black Women : Collecting Treasures

Oral narrative researchers present portraits on the strategies of bringing the experiences of African and African American women into view. They explore how new information about African women is being created and the strengths of oral research for expanding knowledge about Black women.

This book consists of essays on methodological issues by Africana (African and African American) women scholars who have successfully employed oral narrative methods in their research. Some themes covered in these essays are the strengths of oral narrative research for expanding and transforming knowledge about black women and how these scholars learned to conduct oral narrative research; descriptions of the types of narratives they have gathered, the difficulties they have encountered and how these were overcome; and the ethical dilemmas faced while undertaking their research endeavors. What makes this book a valuable teaching tool are the pedagogical suggestions and research artifacts contained within. Contributors have described one or two activities that may assist instructorÆs efforts to teach oral narrative methodologies. Methodological essays about the phenomenological and empirical aspects of carrying out oral narrative research from an Afrafeminist/womanist standpoint are rare and book-length works are almost nonexistent. Oral Narrative Research with black women participates in the growing movement of Afrafeminist/womanist scholarship that fills this void. This is an insightful, thought-provoking resource for researchers, students, and scholars interested in conducting qualitative research or who want to include black women in their research.