Drawing on several studies we take up question about fictionalization in this article. In particular, we are interested in the intentions and purposes of fictionalization and discus these within the context of narrative inquiry. We draw attention to how fictionalizing has become a common and often unquestioned part of responding to concerns about anonymity raised by research ethics boards. We see three purposes for fictionalization: (a) protection of the identities of participants, (b) creation of distance between ourselves and our experiences, and (c) a way to engage in imagination that enriches inquiry spaces and research understandings.
CaineV.SteevesP. (2009). Imagining and playfulness in narrative inquiry. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 10(25). Retrieved from http://www.ijea.org/v10n25/
2.
CarrD. (1986). Time, narrative, and history. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
3.
ClandininD. J. (2013). Engaging in narrative inquiry. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.
4.
ClandininD. J.ConnellyF. M. (1995). Teachers’ professional knowledge landscapes. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
5.
ClandininD. J.ConnellyF. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
6.
ClandininD. J.HuberJ.HuberM.MurphyM. S.Murray OrrA.PearceM.SteevesP. (2006). Composing diverse identities: Narrative inquiries into the interwoven lives of children and teachers. New York, NY: Routledge.
7.
ClandininD. J.MurphyM. S.HuberJ.OrrA. M. (2010). Negotiating narrative inquiries: Living in a tension-filled midst. Journal of Educational Research, 103, 81-90.
8.
ClandininD. J.RosiekJ. (2007). Mapping a landscape of narrative inquiry: Borderland spaces and tensions. In ClandininD. J. (Ed.), Handbook of narrative inquiry: Mapping a methodology (pp. 35-75). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
9.
ClandininD. J.SchaeferL.DowneyC. A. (2014). Narrative conceptions of knowledge: Towards understanding teacher attrition. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group.
10.
ConnellyF. M.ClandininD. J. (1999). Shaping a professional identity: Stories of Educational practice. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
11.
CraigC. (2013). Opportunities and challenges in representing narrative inquiries digitally. Teachers College Record, 115(4), 1-45. Retrieved from http://www.tcrecord.org/library
12.
CritesS. (1971). The narrative quality of experience. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 39, 291-311.
13.
DaviesA. (1995). Learning to live a competing story of teacher education. In ClandininD. J.ConnellyF. M. (with CraigC.DaviesA.HeM. F.HoganP.HuberJ.WhelanK.YoungR.) (Eds.), Teachers’ professional knowledge landscapes (pp. 55-66). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
14.
DeweyJ. (1981). In BoydstonJ. A. (Ed.), The later works, 1925-1927: Vol. 2. Essays—The public and its problems. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
15.
FeynmanR. (1985). The character of physical law (12th reprint). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
16.
HeM. F. (1998). The professional knowledge landscapes for three Chinese women teachers’ acculturation and enculturation processes in China and Canada (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
17.
hooksb. (1997). Wounds of passion: A writing life. New York, NY: Henry Holt.
18.
HowesC. (2004). Afterword. In EakinJ. P. (Ed.), The ethics of life writing (pp. 244-264). Cornell, NY: Cornell University Press.
19.
HuberJ.MurphyS.ClandininJ. (2011). Places of curriculum making: Narrative inquiries into children’s lives in motion. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group.
20.
LopezB. (1989). Crossing open ground. New York, NY: Vintage Books.
21.
MillsC. (2004). Friendship, fiction, and memoir: Trust and betrayal in writing from one’s own life. In EakinJ. P. (Ed.), The ethics of life writing (pp. 101-120). Cornell, NY: Cornell University Press.
22.
MurphyM. S. (2004). Understanding children’s knowledge: A narrative inquiry into school experiences (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
23.
PaleyV. (1992). You can’t say you can’t play. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
24.
SarbinT. (2004). The role of imagination in narrative construction. In DaiuteC.LightfootC. (Eds.), Narrative analysis: Studying the development of individuals in society (pp. 5-20). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
25.
SewallI. (1994). The folkloral voice (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
26.
SewallI. (1996, October). Blessed be the spirit that carries us from day to day. Paper presented at the Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
27.
SteevesP. (2000). Crazy quilt: Continuity, identity and a storied school landscape in transition-a teacher’s and a principal’s works in progress (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
