Caught between Christianity and the hard rock : a narrative study

Abstract

The research study, Caught between Christianity and the hard rock: A narrative study, presents, explores and discusses the stories of Christian hard rock musicians from a predetermined Christian hard rock band, comprising of four members. The study takes a narrative approach at exploring and discussing the participants’ stories, which comprise the qualitative data for the study. The stories were collected by means of four individual semi-structured interviews and a group unstructured interview. The interviews sought to ask the participants certain questions to hear and collect their stories pertaining to the various narratives interplaying in their lives as Christian hard rock musicians. Following collection and transcription of these stories, the stories were analysed according to interpretive narrative analysis, according to Riessman, with reference to Labov’s 6 elements of transcription. Such stories were subsequently reported and discussed within the research study from a narrative theoretical point of departure. This allows for the reader to gain an understanding of the various narratives interplaying in the lives of Christian hard rock musicians, and the significance of such narratives and their experiences, which ultimately is assumed to influence the participants’ daily lives. Ultimately, the study facilitates for the participants to tell their stories as they wished to tell them, in terms of how they may be “caught between Christianity and the hard rock” music genre. Subsequently the study also serves for the reader to gain a narrative understanding as to how the band members understand themselves and their band to be in the world.