International journal
ISSN 2311-0759 (Online)
ISSN 2311-0740 (Print)


sister discourse

“We’ve never been close, we’re very different”: three narrative types in sister discourse

Drawing on interviews I conducted with women about their sisters, I identify three narrative types: small-n narratives, big-N Narratives and Master Narratives. Small-n narratives are accounts of specific events or interactions that speakers said had occurred with their sisters. Big-N Narratives are the themes speakers developed in telling me about their sisters, and in support of which they told the small-n narratives. Master Narratives are culture-wide ideologies shaping the big-N Narratives.