“I’ll teach you differences.” A meta-theoretical approach to narrative theory

Abstract The article seeks to explore sameness and difference in narrative theory by way of shifting the emphasis from the narratives themselves to the research acts we perform on narratives. It proposes a model for analyzing research acts. Applying this model to various research acts in narrative theory it shows that what it implies to look for sameness and difference within narratives will vary with the kind of research act in question. Highlighting the difference between research acts that make theoretical claims about groups of narrative and research acts that seeks to explore the meaning of individual narratives, the article is critically geared both towards theories that stress the fiction/non-fiction divide and towards theories that seek to formulate a narrative theory that encompasses narratives of all kinds. It argues for the place in narrative theory of interpretive working procedures that allow us to focus on the individual narrative, in order to grasp its potential contribution to the human conversation.