Abstract: The epistemological and ontological aspect of "interpretation" in the structure of narrative identity is considered. A model for representing the structure of narrative identity in the form of a hermeneutic spiral is proposed. The problem of the significance of the narrative for human existence is analyzed from the point of view of two opposite positions. The first, arguing that the narrative is a "cognitive tool" through which a meaningful order is retrospectively constructed that falsifies the true nature of the subject's experience of existence. The analysis of this point of view is based on the tradition of narrative criticism formed by such philosophers as Arthur Danto, Louis Mink, Hayden White and Peter Strawson, who conceptualize the narrative as a "cognitive tool". The opposite position is a philosophical view of the narrative as an ontological category that characterizes a special way of being a person. The analysis of narrative as a constitutive element of human existence draws on the tradition of the hermeneutic method, the work of Paul Ricœur and Charles Taylor. It is argued that the experience of human existence cannot be reduced solely to narrative, but this does not contradict the fact that narrative interpretations of experience play a constitutive role in human existence. The conclusion is formed that an important element for understanding the ontological meaning of the narrative is the fact that narrative interpretations have a real impact on our existence in the world: they allow us to construct our self, take part in the creation of the intersubjective world and influence how we interact with others. From an empirical point of view, this means that interpretations have real, material, world-forming consequences. Scholars who deny the capacity of narratives to constitute human existence, view the meaning and role of (self-)interpretation from an anti-realist point of view, and adhere to the ontological assumption that there is an experience of understanding reality that does not depend on the human ability to give meanings.

Abstract: The relationship between narrative identity and values is considered. It is argued that the problem of the relationship and balance between the experience of experiencing: values, a multidirectional spectrum of desires, emotions and actions, is inseparable from the issue of self-determination of the subject. The presented analysis is based on the concept of the dynamics of narrative changes by Ch.M. Taylor "the best possible articulation of experience" (Best Account) and the concept of M.M. Bakhtin.
Building a narrative identity is impossible without reference to values that serve as the foundations of intentional states, orientations and motives that determine behavior. The necessity of values for our self-description reveals their reality. Reflection is a necessary condition for the ontologization of values, defining the difference between "values" and "norms", "desires" and "preferences". In the structure of narrative identity, value is not any desire or preference, but only one that needs justification (rational articulation). The empirical consequence of rational articulation is the formation of a common narrative or the formation of a common language that facilitates the justification of values, which is a condition for the emergence of solidarity.
The hermeneutic circle is considered as a model for the formation and transformation of narrative identity. The presented model describes the interaction between the subject's articulations and his pre-reflexive experience of the emotional experience of values, correlating these elements with the existing spectrum of axiological interpretations. The hermeneutic circle reveals the possibility of coordinating in the subject different levels of existence of values, from the point of view of overcoming the contradictions between the individual and the collective: desires, emotions, values and actions. It is concluded that values are embedded in the structure of narrative identity in several ways: they form the content of the narrative, reinforce ideas about ideals through narrative, and form intentions.