Erzählen über Liebe. Die Konstruktionen narrativer Identität in Selbsterzählungen über Liebe

According to a narrative conceptualization of personal identity this thesis determines the shaping of identity in autobiographical narratives. In scientific and public discourse, the self and its identity are discussed under the notion of fragmentation, dissolution and pluralisation. In contrast, this thesis offers a concept of identity, which integrates the experience of alteration and discontinuity in life course. The concept of narrative identity by Paul Ricoeur serves a possible answer to the theoretical opposition of fragmentation and stability. On the basis of narrative interviews concerning experiences of love, this thesis shows that identity is no longer a stable possession nor a core of the person itself, but a continuously narrative challenge. Love serves as central area for constructing an identity, which is a product of the relation between ego an others. Six case studies document different types of identity construction and show how cultural narratives and discourse provide the background for individual life stories. From this point of view this study is asking for the (im)possibilities of understanding oneself as changeable and continuous subject at the same time.