Abstract:

The subject of the paper is the narrative case study of tacit knowledge in stories of a specific community and with a specific context; namely bodybuilding. We base our study on the fact that knowledge, which cannot be described with words, can be easily expressed by storytelling. The study analyses this knowledge hidden in stories. Members of a particular community tell their stories and understand the experience shared through them in a way that is specific to them only based on a shared community context. However, it may not be (or in some cases cannot be) understandable for others who are not sufficiently involved. The same applies here as in experiential learning – the key role is played by the similar experience of the listener and the speaker; thus also the story told can be most understandable to those individuals who share similar context. We use stories to give specific situations their moral, practical or aesthetic meaning and to be able to better understand ourselves, our culture and knowledge. Here also lies the educational value of the stories analysed in this paper and their perceptive recipients gain from them more than explicit knowledge, which usually isn’t enough for success.

Keywords:

Narrative, bodybuilding, story, tacit knowledge, experience.