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A Narrative Compass: Stories that Guide Women's Lives
Each of us has a narrative compass, a story that has guided our lifework. In this extraordinary collection, women scholars from a variety of disciplines identify and examine the stories that have inspired them, haunted them, and shaped their research, from Little House on the Prairie to Little Women , from the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to Nancy Drew, Mary Jane, and even the Chinese memoir Jottings from the Transcendant's Abode at Mt. Youtai. Telling the "story of her story" leads each of the essayists to insights about her own approach to studying narratives and to a deeper, often surprising, understanding of the power of imagination. Contributors are Deyonne Bryant, Minjie Chen, Cindy L. Christiansen, Beverly Lyon Clark, Karen Coats, Wendy Doniger, Bonnie Glass-Coffin, Betsy Hearne, Joanna Hearne, Ann Hendricks, Rania Huntington, Christine Jenkins, Kimberly Lau, Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, Maria Tatar, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Roberta Seelinger Trites, Claudia Quintero Ulloa, and Ofelia Zepeda.
264 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 2009
1 person is currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Betsy Hearne
27 books12 followersBetsy Hearne is the author of numerous articles and books, including Choosing Books for Children: A Commonsense Guide, the folktale anthology Beauties and Beasts, fiction for both children and young adults, and picture books—one of which, Seven Brave Women, won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. The former children's book editor of Booklist and of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, she has reviewed books for almost forty years and contributes regularly to The Horn Book Magazine.
Hearne was the former Director of The Center for Children's Books and a professor emerita in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she taught children's literature and storytelling for many years.
Hearne was the former Director of The Center for Children's Books and a professor emerita in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she taught children's literature and storytelling for many years.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 30, 2009
Let's face it; being an academic is a pretty fucking lonely gig. What's really great is to read other academics essays on coming up through the various stages of being a student. Their relationships with the things you have relationships with (in this case, books). The idea of a beloved book/story/theorist as a narrative compass is amazing, but beyond the great concept, there's a lot of brave storytelling here that makes for a powerful, connective book. If you are a grad student working in the humanities, go order this book immediately. You will thank yourself for doing so.
April 2, 2021
Women in academia write personal essays about the stories that impacted them as they were growing up. (read for my storytelling class)
These essays are a bit hit or miss. Some, like "A Language Journey," were really affecting for me, others...not so much. Overall, an interesting and niche concept for an essay collection, and I thought the essays were mostly good.
These essays are a bit hit or miss. Some, like "A Language Journey," were really affecting for me, others...not so much. Overall, an interesting and niche concept for an essay collection, and I thought the essays were mostly good.
June 9, 2014
I loved this book.
I bought this at a time when I felt sad and unguided, and hoped this book could give me some nudges in the right direction. I am a feminist, I love reading, and I used to want to be a scholar, so this seemed a fitting choice. Also, it was called "A narrative compass", so it should be able to give me some guidence, right?
I am not sure if it succeeded in this, except for the fact that it made me realise (not for the first time) that I have amazing strong women in my family. My mother, who actively decided she wanted kids, without a man (and there I was). She later started a more traditional looking family with a man and a new kid (my awesome brother), but is able to look at that with some humor of her "traditional" life. She always continued to study and learn during her job, and made several career-moves within the same company.
My maternal grandmother, who raised her two daughters by herself. First because her husband was at sea, and later because they divorced. And I would almost forget she also worked a fulltime job. Which, in that time, was a rarity for a mother.
My aunt, who has the biggest personal library of all people I know. She has been the director of several schools, and decided to retire early, so she could do all the volenteer work she felt passionate about. So now she pours coffee for the homeless, helps in her church, and does many more things for her community.
My paternal grandmother, whose first love was killed in WWII. She went on living, married my grandfather, and managed to create a good life for herself.
The wife of my father, who has endured quite some hardships in her life, but who always picks herself up, and continues her life. She also decided at a later age to study the things she was interested in, next to her job and her family.
What I wrote here, I'd love to expand. I want to add the stories of my maternal greatgrandmother, who passed away when I was 9, and who continued to live by herself into her 90's. The women in my family are readers, and they have their own stories.
I bought this at a time when I felt sad and unguided, and hoped this book could give me some nudges in the right direction. I am a feminist, I love reading, and I used to want to be a scholar, so this seemed a fitting choice. Also, it was called "A narrative compass", so it should be able to give me some guidence, right?
I am not sure if it succeeded in this, except for the fact that it made me realise (not for the first time) that I have amazing strong women in my family. My mother, who actively decided she wanted kids, without a man (and there I was). She later started a more traditional looking family with a man and a new kid (my awesome brother), but is able to look at that with some humor of her "traditional" life. She always continued to study and learn during her job, and made several career-moves within the same company.
My maternal grandmother, who raised her two daughters by herself. First because her husband was at sea, and later because they divorced. And I would almost forget she also worked a fulltime job. Which, in that time, was a rarity for a mother.
My aunt, who has the biggest personal library of all people I know. She has been the director of several schools, and decided to retire early, so she could do all the volenteer work she felt passionate about. So now she pours coffee for the homeless, helps in her church, and does many more things for her community.
My paternal grandmother, whose first love was killed in WWII. She went on living, married my grandfather, and managed to create a good life for herself.
The wife of my father, who has endured quite some hardships in her life, but who always picks herself up, and continues her life. She also decided at a later age to study the things she was interested in, next to her job and her family.
What I wrote here, I'd love to expand. I want to add the stories of my maternal greatgrandmother, who passed away when I was 9, and who continued to live by herself into her 90's. The women in my family are readers, and they have their own stories.
March 25, 2015
I definitely enjoyed some chapters more than others, partially for writing style, partially for content. On the whole, Narrative Compass drew my attention to something I didn't think much about: What stories were so important and formative in my own life that they explain part of who I am today? Saying Harry Potter almost feels like a cop out answer since it was formative for much of my generation. I definitely did not have the same experiences as many of these women as I still have no interest in Little House and I feel too late to try Anne of Green Gables, being neither the right age to fall in love with it not having the memories to make it nostalgic.
But I still found their looking inward and self-analysis enlightening, and I would recommend going through and picking chapters of interest.
But I still found their looking inward and self-analysis enlightening, and I would recommend going through and picking chapters of interest.
May 3, 2009
A wonderful collection of essays about how story shapes life as well as life shaping story. I want to teach a writing class centered around this book.
Want to read
June 7, 2011Betsy Hearne is such an interesting, smart, cool woman. I need to read this book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews