Storied Lives – The Cultural Politics of Self Understanding - Hardcover

Rosenwald, George C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300054556 ISBN 13: 9780300054552

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1992

Synopsis

In this provocative book, psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists analyze interviews with a range of subjects (a minister, Holocaust survivors, a rape victim, and others) to present a new way of thinking about autobiographical narratives. They argue that these narratives play a significant role in the formation of identity, that the way they are told is shaped by prevalent cultural norms, and that the stories may be liberated from the psychic and social obstacles constraining them if the narrators gain critical insight into their own accounts.

About this title

From the Back Cover

In this provocative book, psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists analyze interviews with a range of subjects--a minister who uses the death of his son to reaffirm his identity as a man of God, women who have given up their children at birth for adoption and who blame society for their action, Holocaust survivors, a victim of marital rape, and many others. The editors' object is to present a new way of thinking about autobiographical narratives. They argue that these narratives play a significant role in the formation of identity, that the way they are told is shaped by prevalent cultural norms, and that the stories--and the lives to which they relate--may be liberated from the psychic and social obstacles constraining them if the narrators gain critical insight into their own accounts. Presenting examples of both positive and negative life stories, the authors demonstrate how "telling one's life" has the potential to clarify or question one's commitments and to affirm or modify one's future development.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300054556
• ISBN 13: 9780300054552
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 314