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Citation: 

Gergen, Kenneth J. “Narrative, Moral Identity, and Historical Consciousness: A Social Constructionist Account.” In Narration, Identity and Historical Consciousness, edited by Jûrgen Straub, 99-119. New York: Berghahn Books, 2005.

Abstract/Summary: 

The author aims to outline a social constructivist approach to narratives with a focus on how historical consciousness aids in the development of moral identity. The author creates rudimentary assumptions in terms of narratives, personal identity, and the achievement of moral consciousness through historical narration. The author suggests that narrative will be assigned to the domain of discourse and aims to establish a goal or endpoint. Following the creation of the goal, it is important to dictate the types of events that bring one closer to the goal. It is also important that the events be systematically ordered to have the narrative logically make sense. The author continues with a description of narratives through stabilizing identities, causal linking and narrative demarking followed by a discussion of the variations in narrative forms and the social cultural lodgment of narrative and narrative truth as a cultural convention with cultural value. Continuing with the theme of narrative, the author discusses how it aids in the achievement of identity and how lived narratives can be viewed as relationships. Moral identity is also linked to the narrative and the community. Identity has both a cultural value and a historical identity. The author suggests that narratives are vital to the creation and the substance of value and the creation of individual identity. He gives the example of the Holocaust and narration and how there will never be an absolute truth. 

Source/Credit: 
Erika Smith