Identity formation among young people through narratives

Author(s):

Signild Risenfors

Conference:

ECER 2010

Network:

25. Research on Children's Rights in Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

25 SES 03, Childrens' Voices, Participation and Agency

Paper Session

Time:

2010-08-25

14:00-15:30

Room:

AUDITORIUM IV, Päärakennus / Main Building

Chair:

John I'Anson

Contribution

In this paper I discuss the importance of narratives in identity formation. I am going to present some glimpses from interviews and letters from a Ph D study with young people from an upper secondary school in which they disclose feelings concerning graduation and the forming of a life of their own. The Ph D study, with focus on the conception of ”views of life”, belongs to a Scandinavian research tradition called “Livsåskådningsforskning”.

A narrative is characterized by time, actors and emplotment. Time and emplotment are, following Ricoeur combined with the conception of memory (Ricoeur, 1993, 2005). In the emplotment, when episodes and intention are combined with time and memory, a narrative is formed. Through this emplotment, historical time is transformed into narrative time. Narrative is the form of discourse which, through its dependence on plot, is richest in human meaning. Discover the meaning of narrative, and you discover the eternal truth of the human soul (Simms, 2003, s 83). This implies that the representation of narrative not only consists of the narrative itself, but also of “real life”.

Method

In the paper I visualize time, memory and “the Other” as important components of identity formation. The young people appeared to be good narrators and in the interviews, it was striking that when I asked them about their future, they answered me by telling stories about their family background. But their stories are also a preparation for future identity formation. Conceptualizations in narratives are important for how we direct our attention, but conceptualizations also make power structures in the encompassing context visible. With the help of Ricoeur’s theories and from post-colonial theories (Cannella, 2004) it is possible to challenge the young people’s stories of how a ”still” can provide nuances on what life actually has become, but also how a ”not yet” can point towards alternative images of the future. It is also possible to challenge the stories from the view of “the Other” as the young people are reflecting upon themselves through the eyes of their families.

Expected Outcomes

In the young people´s narratives, the conception of “still” is visible as a bridge between now and then, but we can also see a ”not yet” when the young people form solutions built upon ”the fortunate memory”. Life situations that seem unmanageable change through emplotment to an almost utopian dream. The young people express confidence although life is a big chaos (Anna). But it is also possible to find ambivalences in the narratives according to the conception of “not yet”. The stories can illustrate how a “not yet” can enunciate an alternative picture of the future, so even though most of the young people´s narratives express confidence, I have tried to twist the narratives into the future through the absence of the present. The young people formulate ”the utopian hope” by identifying with a discourse of high demands, but based on the same discourse, the young people also formulate criticism of stress and exposure, something which makes the ”self” extra vulnerable when handling issues regarding longing, safety, fear and anxiety.

References

Cannella, Gaile Sloane (2004) Childhood and Postcolonization: Power, Education, and Contemporary Practice. London: Routledge. Ricoeur, Paul (1993) Från text till handling. Stockholm: Brutus Östling Ricoeur, Paul (2005) Minne, historia, glömska. Göteborg: Daidalos Simms, Karl (2003) Paul Ricoeur/Karl Simms. New York: Routledge

Author Information

Signild Risenfors

University West/Högskolan Väst

Individ och samhälle

Mölndal

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