Creative Nonfiction and the Research Method

Abstract

The first part of the methodological chapter explains in detail how and why the style of writing bringing together empirical material and fiction, termed “creative nonfiction,” was employed, and illustrates its main functions: illustrative, allegorical, organizing, effective, and reflexive. The author also explains most of the metaphors used in the research monograph including the character of James, the fictional journalist, and argues that the book profits precisely from the intersections of the factual and fictional narratives. The second part of the chapter re-tells the ethnographic research process, following four stages: establishing the field, immersion in the research problem, disentanglement, and return to the field. Kotišová also addresses the epistemology and methodology of studying emotions, and the opportunistic, multi-sited, and participatory logic of the research design.