Narrative turn or blind alley?

Sociologists, anthropologists, and others are paying increasing attention to the collection and analysis of personal narratives. This is true of qualitative health research, where narratives of suffering and illness have been granted special status. The article endorses a narrative approach but offers a criticism of research in which narratives are regarded as offering the analyst privileged access to personal experience. It is suggested that an appeal to narratives too often includes inappropriate assumptions concerning human actors and social action. The argument is developed primarily through a reading of several major authors in the field.