Abstract
M.Phil.
This study is undertaken against the backdrop of the "narrativistic turn" in the human sciences. While narratives were traditionally regarded as the terrain of literary studies, it has increasingly become a focus in various disciplines since the 1970s. The usefulness of the concept "narrative identity" is investigated as a means to deal with the problematization of the subject (and personal identity) in postmodern thought. The influence of 20th Century language theory and constructionism on the problematization of the subject is also discussed. It is argued that the self (and personal identity) can not be regarded as a pre-existing subject that simply finds expression in narratives (as sometimes happens in narrative therapy). Such a view would presuppose a pre-linguistic cogito. The self (and personal identity) is not readily available for examination by the self. From a hermeneutical point of view, the self is always an interpretation. Paul Ricoeur's discussion of "narrative identity" is used tot discuss the processes of identity construction in self-narratives.
The way in which a "narrative identity" is constructed in a self-narrative is examined with reference to Karel Schoeman's autobiography (Die laaste Afrikaanse boek – literally "The Last Afrikaans Book"). An autobiography is a representation of a life in which a subject is self-consciously constructing an identity. This specific autobiography makes explicit, self-conscious use of literary devices and refers to literary texts which makes it possible to examine the influence of fiction on self-narratives.
In the process of this study it is demonstrated that insights provided by literary studies could contribute to narrative psychology and in this sense it is demonstrated that the strict boundaries that often exist between disciplines could be dissolved. Various ways by which the study of literature could contribute to the expansion of the hermeneutical basis on which individuals base their self-narratives, and the spin-offs for narrative therapy, is the most important result of the study. Some gains of narratology (within literary analysis) for narrative therapy are also examined.