Self-Reflexivity as an Epistemological Opportunity. The Case of Research on Former GDR Elite Athletes as Victims of Doping

Abstract

Self-reflexivity enables researchers to use subjectivity and research interaction as productive sources of insight. In this article I present my self-reflexive process of knowledge generation which—against the backdrop of the prevailing one-sided discourse on GDR elite sports and doping—allowed for an expanded interpretative perspective. I conducted 15 biographical-narrative interviews (SCHÜTZE, 1983) with former GDR elite athletes, some officially recognized as doping victims, and analyzed them using reflexive grounded theory methodology (BREUER, MUCKEL & DIERIS, 2019). The article focuses on how my view of the research subject evolved, tracing this transformation through field access, interview collection, and selected findings. Recruiting interviewees whose perspectives diverge from dominant victim narratives in the academic context highlights the problematic societal negotiation of the GDR past. Another insight involved recognizing psychologized victim narratives as both an interactional effect and a construct emerging between me as a researcher—with my preconceptions—and the narrators’ representations in the interview situation. By reconstructing narratives of success, personal development, and suffering-induced growth, I was able to broaden the spectrum of self-interpretation and coping strategies among former GDR athletes. The study underlines the value of a self-reflexive methodological approach and a social-constructivist perspective on biographical self-constructions in research on the GDR.