Beskrivelse
Small stories and identity construction in transnational young adults Narrativity has long been considered a central tool for identity construction. While for a long time, narrative inquiry focused on autobiographical life stories, there has been an increasing recognition within recent years that identity construction is locally achieved in telling of small stories in every day interaction (Bamberg & Georgakopoulou, 2008; Bamberg, da Fina & Schiffrin, 2011). Such approach takes an interactive-performative orientation towards narratives as situated in dialogue. Specifically, the focus lies on three challenges in terms of dilemmatic spaces within which identity activities--and at their center: narrating--are ‘navigated.’ (Bamberg, 2010): (i) a successful diachronic navigation between constancy and change (ii) the establishment of a synchronic connection between sameness and difference (between self and other) (iii) the management of agency between the double-arrow of a person-to-world versus a world-to- person direction of fit. Identity construction work is a life long process but has been claimed to be particularly salient during the transition from youth to adulthood. With recent societal changes in post-industrialized Western societies these processes have even been described to shift towards the mid-twenties or what has been referred to as emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2007). While navigating between the above outlined dilemmata is a general process in identity construction work, it becomes particularly important when faced with major transition and change in a person’s life, i.e., when our identity is at threat and needs to be reworked. With the challenges of an increasing globalized world and ever changing life styles and redefinition of identity in post-modern societies, the study of these navigation processes therefore becomes of vital importance. The present study takes the above small-story approach to the study of identity construction among young adults who live in transnational partner relationships. It investigates how these individuals manage to solve the challenge of navigating between constancy and change, sameness and difference, and of managing personal agency in their identity construction work in light of the challenges that go hand in hand with transnationalism. For this purpose, both interviews with young adults living in transnational relationships as well as video recorded web-based interactions of transnational couples are analyzed applying positioning analysis as put forward by Bamberg (e.g., 2010). It is investigated how on a micro-analytical level, identity is achieved through the telling of small stories in these interactions. Results will be discussed in light of the potential of narrative identity research for strengthening resilience in transnational relationships.| Periode | 12 sep. 2013 |
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| Begivenhedstitel | International Pragmatics Conference |
| Begivenhedstype | Konference |
| Konferencenummer | 13 |
| Placering | New Delhi, IndienVis på kort |