Interpreting the Past, Writing the Future

Using the metaphor of Homer's Odyssey, this paper provides a characterization of the development of interpretive consumer research. Initially this development is shown to have been circumscribed by the machinations of positivism. However, following the disruptive influences of postmodernism/post-structuralism, issues such as methodological pluralism, reflexivity and representation are considered to signify the way forward to an interpretive consumer research with confidence in its axioms.