In communicative narrative sensemaking theory, a story is a communicative construction through which people recount events in a way that helps them communicate the events to others and also make sense of the event themselves. Thus, stories help create identity, aid in socialization, help make meaning and cope with difficulty, and encourage interpersonal connection.

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This theory establishes three kinds of storytelling:

• retrospective storytelling

• interactional storytelling

• translational storytelling.

 

For the purposes of this project, retrospective storytelling applies the best, as the main focus of retrospective storytelling is on the content of the stories. The content of a story reveals individual, relational, and intergenerational meaning-making, as well as values and beliefs. In essence, stories help us make meaning of our lives. 

The basic idea that Galvin sets forth is this: "doing family" is the notion that family emerges from and reflects everyday discourse and experience. These discourses and experiences happen both within the family unit (internal boundary management) and externally with outsiders (external boundary management). Notice that "narrating" fits into both categories. In short, telling family stories in internal and external contexts helps to solidify understanding of a family's collective identity.

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External boundary management strategies:

• labeling - using titles/positions to identify a particular family tie

• explaining - making a labeled family relationship understandable, often within the context of a non-hostile situation/inquiry 

• legitimizing - explaining how a relationship is genuine by invoking laws/customs 

• defending - justifying a family relationship against a hostile opposition or direct challenge

• narrating - telling family stories to outsiders to represent the family's definition of itself.

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Internal boundary management strategies:

• naming - how family members indicate/clarify their familial status and connections

• discussing - often occurs when there is ambiguity in a family situation and there aren't names for particular family relationships

• ritualizing - when families engage in major celebrations as well as mundane routines

• narrating - telling family stories to establish and pass on a family identity

Narrative performance theory is concerned with three overarching questions:

• ​How is the content of stories ordered, and from where do these stories emerge? (Content ordering)

• How are the tasks of participation in storytelling ordered? (Task ordering)

• How does storytelling order the identities of bodies as a family? (Group ordering)

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As the name of the theory implies, storytelling is in of itself a performance of sorts. There is always a storyteller and an audience, and in many cases, these roles are very particular from one family to another. To put it differently, there are always certain members of the family who act as story-keepers. In addition, there are rules regarding what story can be told, when a certain story can be shared, and what details of stories should be included or excluded. Put simply, story-keepers have a lot of power within family units.