ICONIC

What is ICONIC?

The Interdisciplinary Consortium On Narratives in Context (ICONIC) is a consortium of academics from different disciplines across the University of Nottingham, along with people with lived experience relevant to narrative research.

Aims of ICONIC

1. To strengthen the relationships between ICONIC members and hence demonstrate evidence of joint working which is needed for substantive grant applications
2. To generate resources through grant proposals
3. To produce publications and other outputs

What does ICONIC do?

Our focus is on interdisciplinary narrative research using a range of methodologies. We started in 2022 with a series of interdisciplinary workshops.

What kinds of narratives do we research?

Our focus includes:

• Narrating adversity: spanning a wide range of adversity including (mental) health, modern slavery, historical narratives, marginalised communities, with a focus on narrating as an active process.
• Constraints on narratives: social and cultural influences, global health perspectives, pathologising versus non-pathologising cultural conventions, decolonisation, instrumentalisation of narratives
• Narrative complexity: narrative intersectionality, intergenerational narratives, power and post-truth, truthfulness versus bright-siding, polyphony, collaborative narrative complexity, non-verbal narratives.

What kinds of methodologies do we use?

Our methodological range includes:

• Psychological processes: experimental psychology, longitudinal qualitative collection and analysis
• Linguistic approaches: stylistics, consciousness representation, analysis of point of view/perspective
• Computational approaches: corpus linguistics, corpus-based discourse analysis, including key word analysis using databases such as sketch engine and analysis of observable narrative and narrator features using databases such as increase.
• Narratives as intervention: NEON, PhotoVoice, using narratives to engage particular audiences such as policy-makers, curation practices, vignettes / composite narratives.

ICONIC members

The ICONIC Consortium is co-ordinated by the ICONIC Steering Group (SG). The ICONIC consortium comprises Laura Asher, Sarah Badcock (SG), Heike Bartel, Laura Blackie (SG), Jeremie Clos, Paul Crawford, Donna Franklin (SG), Daniel Hunt, Nigel Hunt, Ian Kidd (SG), Fiona Ng (SG), Mark Pearson, Stef Rennick-Egglestone, Mike Slade (SG), Violeta Sotirova, Elvira Perez Vallejos and Nicola Wright (SG).

We also work with the University of Nottingham Institute for Policy and Engagement

Joining ICONIC

ICONIC Consortium members have agreed

1. To support the ICONIC Consortium, through at least one of attending meetings OR contributing to publications OR providing advice
2. To be named on this website
3. Optionally, to identify current or recent publications, grants or other activities which have relevance to ICONIC and can be listed on the ICONIC website as examples of research being conducted by the ICONIC Consortium
4. Optionally, to include reference to the ICONIC Consortium in relevant future papers (e.g. in Acknowledgements), grant proposals (e.g. as named collaboration) and other activities

If you work at the University of Nottingham in a permanent or fixed-term post-doctoral research role (e.g. academic, Research Fellow) and would like to join the ICONIC Consortium please contact us confirming you agree to the above, and we will add you to the consortium.

Our narrative research

Here are some examples of narrative research work conducted by ICONIC members:

• Crawford R, Brown B, Crawford P  (2004) Storytelling in Therapy,  Nelson Thornes: Cheltenham.
• Saavedra J, Cubero M, Crawford P (2009) Incomprehensibility in the narratives of individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, Qualitative Health Research, 11, 1548-1558. Available here
• Badcock S (2016) A prison without walls? Eastern Siberian exile in the last years of Tsarism, Oxford University Press.  Available here
• Badcock S (2016) Personal and political networks in 1917: Vladimir Zenzinov and the Socialist Revolutionary Party, Journal of Modern Russian History and Historiography, 9, 133-157.  Available here
• Kidd IJ (2017) Exemplars, Ethics and Illness Narratives, Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 4, 323-334.  Available here
• Kidd IJ, Carel H (2017), Episystemic Injustice and Illness, Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2, 172-190.  Available here
• Pérez E, Koene A, Carter CJ, Hunt D, Woodard C, Urquhart L, Bergin A, Statache R (2017) Accessing Online Data for Youth Mental Health Research: Meeting the Ethical Challenges, Philosophy and Technology, (REF21 3*). Available here
• Saavedra J, Arias S, Paul C, Pérez E (2017) Impact of creative workshops for people with severe mental illness: Art as a means of recovery, Arts and Health. Available here
• Kidd IJ (2018) Adversity, Wisdom and Examplarism, Journal of Value Inquiry, 4, 379–393.  Available here
• Wright N, Jordan M, Wright EJ, Purser A, Grundy A, Joyes E, Crawford P & Manning N (2018) Capoeira for beginners: self-benefit for, and community action by, new Capoeiristas, Sport, Education and Society, 18, 1-14.
• Hunt N (2019), Landscapes of Trauma, London: Routledge.
• Llewellyn-Beardsley J, Rennick-Egglestone S, Callard F, Crawford P, Farkas M, Hui A, Manley D, McGranahan R, Pollock K, Ramsay A, Knut TS, Wright N, Slade M (2019) Characteristics of mental health recovery narratives: Systematic review and narrative synthesis, PLOS One, 3, e0214678.
• Ng F, Charles A, Pollock K, Rennick-Egglestone S, Cuijpers P, Gillard S, van der Krieke L, Bongaardt R, Pomberth S, Repper J, Roe J, Llewellyn-Beardsley J, Yeo C, Hui A, Hare-Duke L, Manley D, Slade M (2019) The mechanisms and processes of connection: developing a causal chain model capturing impacts of receiving recorded mental health recovery narratives, BMC Psychiatry, 19, 1-15.
• Ng F, Townsend ML, Miller CE, Jewell M, Grenyer BFS (2019) The lived experience of recovery in borderline personality disorder: A qualitative study, Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation. 10, 1-9.
• Pérez E (2019) Use of Digital Media for Self-Expression in Children and Adolescents, In Beresin E, Olson C (Eds), Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Media, Elsevier, San Carlos, CA, USA (pp187-194), Available here  
• Rennick-Egglestone S, Morgan K, Llewellyn-Beardsley J, Ramsay A, McGranahan A, Gillard S, Hui A, Ng F, Schneider J, Booth S, Pinfold V, Davidson L, Franklin D, Bradstreet S, Arbour S, Slade S (2019) Mental health recovery narratives and their impact on recipients: systematic review and narrative synthesis, Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 10, 64.  Available here
• Rennick-Egglestone S, Ramsay A, McGranahan R, Llewellyn-Beardsley J, Hui A, Pollock K, Repper J, Yeo C, Ng F, Roe J, Gillard S, Thornicroft G, Booth S, Slade M (2019), The impact of mental health recovery narratives on recipients experiencing mental health problems: Qualitative analysis and change model, PLoS ONE, 12, 14, e0226201.  Available here
• Slade M, Rennick-Egglestone S, Blackie LER, Llewellyn-Beardsley J, Franklin D, Hui A, Deakin E (2019) Post-traumatic growth in mental health recovery: qualitative study of narratives, BMJ Open, 9, 6, e029342, Available here
• Wright N, Bailey D, Kemp L, Mutale G (2019) Talk about self-harm (TASH): Participatory action research with young people, GPs and practice nurses to explore how the experiences of young people who self-harm could be improved in GP surgeries, Family Practice, 5, 621-626.
• Blackie LER, Colgan J, McDonald S, McLean KC (2020) A Qualitative Investigation into the Cultural Master Narrative for Overcoming Trauma and Adversity in the UK, Qualitative Psychology. Available here
• Milner K, Crawford P, Edgley A, Hare Duke L, Slade M (2020) The experiences of spirituality among adults with mental health difficulties: a qualitative systematic review, Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 29, e34.  Available here
• Pearson M, Rennick-Egglestone S, Winship G (2020) How Can Poetry Support the Understanding of Psychotic Experiences? – A Conceptual Review. Journal of recovery in mental health, 1, 39–53.
• Slade M, Sweeney A (2020) Rethinking the concept of insight, World Psychiatry, 19, 389-390.
• Blackie LER, McLean KC (2021) Examining the Longitudinal Associations between Repeated Narration of Recent Transgressions Within Individuals’ Romantic Relationships and Character Growth in Empathy, Humility and Compassion, European Journal of Personality. Available here
• McGranahan R, Jakaite J, Edwards A, Rennick-Egglestone S, Slade M, Priebe S (2021) Living with Psychosis without Mental Health Services: A Narrative Interview Study, BMJ Open, 11, e045661.  Available here
• Raghuraman S, Stuttard S, Hunt N (2021) Evaluating Narrative Exposure Therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression symptons: A meta-analysis of the evidence base, Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 28, 1-23.
• Charles A, Hare-Duke L, Nudds H, Franklin D, Llewellyn-Beardsley J, Rennick-Egglestone S, Gust O, Ng F, Evans E, Knox E, Townsend E, Yeo C, Slade M (2022) Typology of content warnings and trigger warnings: systematic review, PLOS ONE, 17, e0266722.
• Hunt N, Willis S (2022) Narratives of life after political imprisonment: Republican and Loyalist ex-prisoners in Northern Ireland, The Journal of Forensic Practice, in press.
• Ng F, Newby C, Robinson C, LLewellyn-Beardsley J, Yeo C, Roe J, et al (2022) How do recorded mental health recovery narratives create connection and improve hopefulness?, Journal of Mental Health, 2, 273-80.
• Pearson M, Rennick-Egglestone S, Winship G (2020) How Can Poetry Support the Understanding of Psychotic Experiences? – A Conceptual Review, Journal of recovery in mental health, 1, 39–53.
• Yeo C, Rennick-Egglestone S, Armstrong V, Borg M, Franklin D, Klevan T, Llewellyn-Beardsley J, Newby C, Ng F, Thorpe N, Voronka J, Slade M (2022) Uses and misuses of recorded mental health lived experience narratives in healthcare and community settings: systematic review, Schizophrenia Bulletin, 48, 134-144.