Abstract

In this thesis, I examine how self and identity are constructed through story. Personal, interpersonal, and cultural aspects of lived experience intertwine during naturally-occuring mother-daughter storytelling sessions, leaving traces of self in the stories told. From a hermeneutical philosophical stance, and framed by feminist and psychoanalytic theories, I explore the following questions: a) how does a preschool-aged child use shared storytelling to articulate and co-construct her identity? and b) how are themes of gender socialization represented in these narratives? Nicolopoulou and Richner’s (2007) rubric of character development in children’s narratives and McLean, Pasupathi, and Pals’ (2007) process-model of narrative identity provide the methodological scaffolds through which themes of gender expression and self-development emerge. I discuss possible meanings of symbols pertaining to gender identity in light of the dynamic co-construction of self and identity between mother and daughter.