Positioning Theory as a Tool for Analysing Working Class Identities: Angela Rayner in Interview

In recent years, narrative has emerged as a ‘prime vehicle’ through which speakers are able to construct identities (de Fina, 2015a, p. 351). This research utilises positioning theory (Davies & Harre, 1990, p. 48) in its three- tiered adaption to the field of narrative (Bamberg, 1997, 2004) to explore how one speaker in particular, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Angela Rayner, negotiates a sense of self in situated narrative interaction. Previous research has extensively explored each ‘level’ of positioning in depth (see de Fina’s, 2013, investigation of conflict narratives told by Latin American immigrant women, for example). This research instead focuses on how the interplay at different levels assists the speaker in arriving at a reflexive, locally contingent and evolving working class identity. Positioning framework facilitates sophisticated, connected exploration that allows for researchers to elegantly bridge the gap between micro- and macro-level phenomena, imposing neither a top-down nor a bottom-up imposition as the speaker orients to master discourses when and only when relevant. The stories told by Rayner and the ensuing analyses therefore work as a model for future research aiming to describe the relationship individuals have with Discourse and ideology, and the construction of identity within these forces.