Embodying Narrative: Diffractive Readings of Ethical Relationality in Qualitative Inquiry

This introduction provides an inquisition into the role of narrative inquiry in the field of qualitative inquiry. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s works on painting, this introduction discusses the philosophical tensions within narrative inquiry as a methodology to situate narrative in a broader context of research methodologies and to raise some questions about the very specific role of the human and anthropomorphism in narrative inquiry. The authors in this special issue were tasked with thinking through narratives with unexplored theories or theoretical perspective. The purpose of the special issue is to invite readers to consider these various tensions.