Facing the failure of 'one size fits all' HIV prevention messages, progressive public health researchers are attempting to localize and humanize prevention strategies for men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM). In order to better understand individual motives, beliefs, and behaviors, recent efforts have centered on collecting personal narratives from men who engage in risky sex. This article offers an epistemological critique of this so-called 'narrative turn' in qualitative research. Specifically, it analyzes the complexities of the conceptual relationship between narrative and sexual subjectivity.
Adam, Barry D., Husbands, Winston, Murray, James and Maxwell, John (2005) `AIDS Optimism, Condom Fatigue, or Self-Esteem? Explaining Unsafe Sex Among Gay and Bisexual Men', The Journal of Sex Research42(3): 238-48.
2.
Crossley, Michele L. (2000) Introducing Narrative Psychology. Open University Press.
3.
Crossley, Michele L. (2002) `The Perils of Health Promotion and the "Barebacking" Backlash', Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness, and Medicine6(1): 47-68.
4.
Crossley, Michele L. (2004) `Making Sense of "Barebacking": Gay Men's Narratives, Unsafe Sex and the "Resistance Habitus", British Journal of Social Psychology43(2): 225-44.
5.
Davis, Mark (2002) `HIV Prevention Rationalities and Serostatus in the Risk Narratives of Gay Men', Sexualities5(3): 282-99.
6.
Davis, Mark (2003) `IJDP Commentary: Qualitative Research and Harm Reduction', International Journal of Drug Policy14(1): 119-22.
7.
Davis, Mark and Rhodes, Tim (2004) `Beyond Prevention? Injecting Drug User Narratives about Hepatitis C', International Journal of Drug Policy15(2): 123-31.
8.
Davis, Mark, Hart, Graham, Bolding, Graham, Sherr, Lorriane and Elford, Jonathan (2006) `E-Dating, Identity and HIV Prevention: Theorising Sexualities, Risk and Network Society', Sociology of Health and Illness28(4): 457-78.
9.
Davis, Mark, Rhodes, Tim and Martin, Anthea (2004) `Preventing Hepatitis C: "Common Sense", "The Bug", and Other Perspectives from the Risk Narratives of People who Inject Drugs' , Social Science and Medicine59(9): 1807-18.
10.
Denzin, Norman K. and Lincoln, Yvonna S. (2003) `Introduction: The Discipline and Practice of Qualitative Research', in Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln (eds) The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and Issues, pp. 1-46. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
11.
Derrida, Jacques( 1976) Of Grammatology (trans. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
12.
Derrida, Jacques( 1978) Writing and Difference (trans. Alan Bass). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
13.
Eagleton, Terry (1996) Literary Theory: An Introduction. Twin CitiesUniversity of Minnesota Press.
14.
Foucault, Michel (1978) The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction (trans. Robert Hurley). New York: Vintage.
15.
Freeman, Gregory A. (2003) `In Search of Death', Rolling Stone915 (6 February): 44-8.
16.
Gamson, Joshua (2003) `Sexualities, Queer Theory, and Qualitative Research' , in Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln (eds) The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and Issues, pp. 540-68. Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE.
17.
Halperin, David (2007) What Do Gay Men Want? An Essay on Sex, Risk, and Subjectivity. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
18.
Holstein, James A. and Gubrium, Jaber F. (1995) The Active Interview, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
19.
Holstein, James A. and Gubrium, Jaber F. (1997) `Active Interviewing' , in David Silverman (ed.) Qualitative Research: Theory, Method and Practice, pp. 113-29. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
20.
James, William (1890) The Principles of Psychology. New York: Holt.
21.
James, William (1987a [1904]) `Does Consciousness Exist?' William James: Writings 1902-1910. New York: Library of America.
22.
James, William (1987b [1904]) `A World of Pure Experience', William James: Writings 1902-1910. New York: Library of America.
23.
Josselson, Ruthellen and Amia Lieblich (eds) (1999) Making Meaning of Narratives. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
24.
Kippax, Susan and Kane Race (2003) `Sustaining Safe Practice: Twenty Years On', Social Science and Medicine57(1): 1-12
25.
McAdams, Dan P. (1997) The Stories We Live By. New York: Guilford.
26.
Nietzsche, Friedrich (2000) On the Genealogy of Morals. From Basic Writings of Nietzsche (trans. Walter Kaufmann). New York: Modern Library.
27.
Plummer, Ken (1998) `The Past, Present, and Futures of the Sociology of Same-Sex Relations', in Peter M. Nardi and Beth Schneider (eds) Social Perspectives in Lesbian and Gay Studies, pp. 605-14, New York: Routledge.
28.
Race, Kane D. (2001) `The Undetectable Crisis: Changing Technologies of Risk', Sexualities4(2): 167-89.
Ridge, Damien Thomas (2004) `"It Was an Incredible Thrill": The Social Meanings and Dynamics of Younger Gay Men's Experiences of Barebacking in Melbourne' , Sexualities7(3): 259-79.
31.
Ridge, Damien, Hee, Amos and Minichiello, Victor (1999) `"Asian" Men on the Scene: Challenges to "Gay Communities"', Journal of Homosexuality36(3/4): 43-68.
32.
Ridge, Damien Thomas, Minichiello, Victor and Plummer, David (1997) `Queer Connections: Community, "The Scene", and an Epidemic', Journal of Contemporary Ethnography26(2): 146-82.
33.
Rofes, Eric (1995) Reviving the Tribe: Regenerating Gay Men's Sexuality and Culture in the Ongoing Epidemic. New York and London: Haworth Press.
34.
Rofes, Eric (1998) Dry Bones Breathe: Gay Men Creating Post-AIDS Identities and Cultures. New York and London : Haworth Press.
35.
Rofes, Eric (2006) `The Emerging Sex Panic Targeting Gay Men', URL (accessed 17 August 2006): http://www.managingdesire.org/sexpanic/rofessexpanic.html
36.
Sheon, Nicolas and Crosby, G. Michael (2004) `Ambivalent Tales of HIV Disclosure in San Francisco', Social Science and Medicine58(11): 2105-18
37.
Tomso, Gregory (2004) `Bug Chasing, Barebacking, and the Risks of Care' , Literature and Medicine23(1): 88-111.
38.
Tomso, Gregory (2008) `Viral Sex and the Politics of Life', South Atlantic Quarterly107(2): 265-85.
39.
Vidich, Arthur J. and Lyman, Stanford M. (2003) `Qualitative Methods: Their History in Sociology and Anthropology', in Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln (eds) The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and Issues, pp. 55-130. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
