O USO DE NARRATIVAS (AUTO) BIOGRÁFICAS EM PESQUISAS QUALITATIVAS:

CONTRIBUIÇÕES DA PSICOLOGIA CULTURAL DE JEROME BRUNER E SUAS APROXIMAÇÕES COM A ANTROPOLOGIA INTERPRETATIVA DE CLIFFORD GEERTZ

Abstract

The study of narrative has occupied a prominent place in the human
sciences, especially over the last decades, forming an interdisciplinary field. The
present work starts with the synthesis of the contributions given to the study of
the theme by psychologist Jerome Bruner, seeking to identify possible approxima-
tions between his ideas and the formulations presented by anthropologist Clifford
Geertz about culture as a symbolic system and the place occupied by narrative
in the construction of realities. From this discussion, challenges and possibilities
related to the use of (auto) biographical narratives as a methodological resource in
scientific research are problematized. To illustrate the possibilities introduced by
the use of this type of resource, the narrative of an indigenous teacher is presented,
which reports how the Guarani learning processes were inserted in a new school,
providing the appropriation of the school community. This narrative would be a
version of reality experienced by the teacher and shared with the expressiveness
of her memories. This sharing enables us researchers to have indirect access to a
small portion of her world and the existing social discourse about it, which we
could not understand without she leading us to understand it.