Storied Lives: The Cultural Politics of Self-Understanding

Rosenwald, George C.; Ochberg, Richard L. - Editors

ISBN 10: 0300054556 / ISBN 13: 9780300054552

Published by Yale University Press, 1992

About this Item

304 Pages with Index. The stories people tell about themselves are interesting not only for the events nd characters they describe but for something in the construction of the stories themselves. The ways in which individuals recount their histories - what they emphasize and omit, their stance as protagonists or victims, the relationship the story establishes between teller and audience - all shape what individuals can claim of their own lives. Personal stories are not merely a way of telling someone (or oneself) about one's life; they are the means by which identities may be fashioned.

Seller Inventory # 23347

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Storied Lives: The Cultural Politics of Self-Understanding
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication Date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300054556
• ISBN 13: 9780300054552
• Binding: Full-Leather
• Illustrator: Scanlon, Sonia L. - Design
• Edition: First Printing
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

[ Storied Lives: The Cultural Politics of Self-Understanding By ( Author ) Aug-1992 Hardcover

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.