An interdisciplinary investigation into the narratives of three co-researchers: A postfoundational notion of practical theology

Abstract

This article elaborates on the sixth movement of a postfoundational notion of practical theology and is concerned with giving a description of experiences, which are thickened through interdisciplinary investigation. The experiences of interest are those of the co-researchers who formed part of the larger research study, conducted in 2010, and who were at the time adolescent male orphans, affected by HIV and AIDS, poverty and father abandonment. The research was conducted within the theoretical frameworks of a postfoundational notion of practical theology, narrative therapy and research, and social constructionism. A qualitative research strategy was employed, with the case study design as point of departure in collecting and analysing research data. Various key aspects were investigated with the use of the model of narrative and the seven movements of a postfoundational notion of practical theology. The aim of this article is to provide an illustration of the application of the principles of a postfoundational notion of practical theology, and its sixth movement – an interdisciplinary investigation – as it is applied within this specific research context. Four interdisciplinary conversationalists, each from a different academic field, were invited to reflect on the three narrated stories of the co-researchers. This article, then, gives a report on their feedback and the value of interdisciplinary investigation in aiding, with the understanding of the meaningmaking process behind collected narratives.