Narratives of Identity and Place

Taylor, Stephanie

ISBN 10: 0415480477 / ISBN 13: 9780415480475

Published by Routledge, 2009

About this Item

Explores the changing meanings of place for our identities and life stories in the 21st century, using an empirical approach developed in narrative and discursive psychology. Num Pages: 160 pages, black & white illustrations. BIC Classification: JMH. Category: (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 241 x 166 x 17. Weight in Grams: 384. . 2009. 1st Edition. hardcover. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780415480475

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Narratives of Identity and Place
• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415480477
• ISBN 13: 9780415480475
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Changes of residence are common in contemporary Western societies. Traditional connections to birthplaces, home towns and countries are broken as people relocate and migrate, yet where they live remains significant to people’s identity and stories of who they are. This book investigates the continuing importance of place for women’s identities, employing a theoretical and empirical approach based on previous work in narrative and discursive psychology.

Through an analysis of women’s talk, the book examines how commonsense meanings shape and limit people’s identity-work to establish a connection to place. It argues that talk about place, and especially place of residence, enables a complex positioning of self and others in which identities of gender, class and national identity intersect. It shows how a speaker’s multiple interpretations of where she lives remain central to her life narrative, and to her fragile and idealized definition of ‘home’ as the place in which she may position herself positively.

Narratives of Identity and Place presents a unique and valuable integration of the popular methods of narrative and discourse analysis, compellingly demonstrating the value of these approaches for research on identity.

About the Author

Stephanie Taylor is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Social Sciences at the Open University. In addition to her published work on identity, including creative identities and identities of place, she has written on qualitative research methods, including discourse analysis, ethnography and narrative analysis.