Stories in social organization
Journal Title: Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology - Year 2014, Vol 5, Issue 1
Abstract
I am delighted to have been asked to guest-edit this Special Issue which brings together exciting perspectives on Stories in Social Organization, a topic currently at the forefront of narrative studies. The breadth of the actual topic and the widely acknowledged diversity of narrative studies make it difficult to seek a consensus in the articles without running the risk of overstating connections. In any case, the multiplicity of approaches and data is immediately evident. At the same time, it is pleasing to see insights from recent studies of stories as densely contextualized social practices (De Fina & Georgakopoulou 2008), being infused into most of the papers. The other related shift that is attestable concerns the recognition of the plurality and heterogeneity of narrative genres, itself part of a wider move away from text-based to practice-based perspectives on genre. In the case of narrative in particular, this move has implicated the gradual dismantling of the essentializing concept of Narrative Identity in favour of the study of (small) stories and identities in context and in interaction (Georgakopoulou 2007). We can see this pairing of narrative genres with the participants’ roles and identities neatly documented in Archakis’ paper on narrative genres in Greek contexts. This contextsensitivity of genres is, however, not incompatible with the recognizeability and familiarity that narrative genres come with, as well-rehearsed sense-making devices, that can, for instance, become part of a national fabric, be it Irish, Serbian or Romanian, (Hogan, Ilic, Rusu), or be drawn and fallen back on by individuals (in this case, social work students on their placement abroad) to make sense of unfamiliar situations (Crabtree et al.).
Authors and Affiliations
Alexandra Georgakopoulou
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP40995
- DOI -
- Views 189
- Downloads 0
Words leaking from objects: thinking with absent photographs
The possibilities within notions of the object constitute a special area of interest in my research. As I have come to see it, the object is bounded by - and yet comes to alter- views of representation/re-presentation;...
(Re)telling a dog story from Newfoundland: Voice, alterity and the art of ethnographic description
This paper addresses the question of how and why we (anthropologists and sociologists) tell stories of real people doing real stuff. It will consider this question by reflecting on three versions of a story that I have...
Misunderstanding opportunities: (post-)resettlement issues in the Recea neighbourhood of Alba Iulia
Although its gold mining project has been locked in public debates and permit reviews for over a decade, a Canadian-Romanian company privately negotiated with the inhabitants of Roşia Montană commune, Romania, to buy t...
Migrant’s houses as places and objects of cultural consumption and status display
The paper explores the interplay between migration and cultural consumption with regard to the rural dwelling. The study is based on data collected in a fieldwork carried out in the village of Marginea, Romania, a rura...
A rough guide to musical anthropology
This paper has set out to be an introductory approach to socio-anthropological studies of music and all human behavior and narratives (as lore) associated to it. The path chosen for this was the somewhat convenient and...