Love and conversion: Identity in autobiographical narratives

The narrative turn lead to a variety of research which focuses on the individual and self description. According to a narrative conceptualization of personal identity this paper determines the shaping of identity in autobiographical narratives. On the basis of a case study, conversion will be interpreted and analysed as a model of creating narrative identity. Unlike conversion research in psychology of religion the narrated self-transformation is seen both as rhetorical element and as a function of problem-solving concerning the narrator’s life story as well as his life process itself. However, conversion remains a precarious project in both ways.  The narrative turn lead to a variety of research which focuses on the individual and self description. According to a narrative conceptualization of personal identity this paper determines the shaping of identity in autobiographical narratives. On the basis of a case study, conversion will be interpreted and analysed as a model of creating narrative identity. Unlike conversion research in psychology of religion the narrated self-transformation is seen both as rhetorical element and as a function of problem-solving concerning the narrator’s life story as well as his life process itself. However, conversion remains a precarious project in both ways