Evaluating qualitative research in the poststructural moment: the lessons James Joyce teaches us

Abstract Poststructural theory creates a crisis of representation and legitimation for qualitative research in the human disciplines. The direct link between text and experience is now problematic. This is the crisis of representation. The crisis of legitimation involves a reconceptualization of the criteria that researchers use for evaluating interpretive research. These two crises are located within the history of qualitative research in the United States and Europe. James Joyce's four pivotal literary works are used as vehicles to illustrate how these crises have been resolved in earlier historical moments. New directions for research and theory are suggested, based on this discussion.