Volume 19, Issue 2

In this article the author critically reflects on his experiences while conducting qualitative liturgical research in local communities in South Africa. After a brief sketch of the context and introducing his approach, three types of examples are presented and reflected upon critically. In conclusion, an argument is presented for a specific kind of spirituality that is needed in order to undertake ethnographic-style participatory observation for liturgical research on African soil, namely a spirituality of liminality. For a researcher who is not a member of the tradition and culture in which the research is being conducted, this spirituality of liminality is necessary in order to develop an emic perspective without defining the people whose worshipping tradition is being researched as ‘other’. This spirituality of liminality is an important characteristic for a researcher who engages in qualitative ethnographic-style liturgical research in a postcolonial context.

The following essay, albeit centered upon the theories of philosopher Paul Ricoeur and psychologist Robert Kegan, ultimately sets out to articulate specifically how the ways that people narrate meaning throughout their lives can be a source of theological and pedagogical insight. By making explicit the interconnections between Kegan’s and Ricoeur’s seemingly disparate theses, a so-called narrative-developmental view of human identity is presented and outlined. Resulting reflections consider: the importance of valuing individual persons in religious education, identity-formation as creatio continua , consciousness-raising in adults as the expansion of identity towards greater authenticity and compassion; etc.