Girls interrupted : narrative constructions of identity among teenage mothers in the UK and France

Langtree, SK 2011, Girls interrupted : narrative constructions of identity among teenage mothers in the UK and France , PhD thesis, University of Salford.

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Abstract

This thesis is premised on the understanding that narratives are not merely ways of telling others about ourselves, but are also a means of shaping our identities. It was informed by narrative research methodology that conceptualizes identity as multiple and mutable and as being shaped by individual biography and experience over time, as well as by social context. Therefore, taking a narrative approach and using the concept of family and local habitus as a conceptual tool, this study compares and contrasts how teenage mothers in the UK and France narratively construct their identities and the extent to which these are influenced by broader Euroamerican meta-narratives, particularly in relation to motherhood, teenage motherhood, adolescence and femininities. The field work for this research project involved obtaining personal oral narratives from young mothers in the United Kingdom and France in order to constitute case studies. The resulting narratives from each case study were analysed individually and were then compared to reveal similarities and differences between the accounts. One of the key themes to emerge from the research was that the Influence of the prevailing Euroamerican meta-narrative as regards to motherhood seemed to be particularly significant to the ways in which the young women who took part in this study constructed their identities, especially in the extent to which their understanding of motherhood appeared to be linked to their understanding of femininity. Issues of agency and power in relation to meta-narratives and how they operate in the thesis as well as the ways in which the young mothers take up and use power are addressed.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Contributors:	Gregory, A (Supervisor) and Harlow, E (Supervisor)
Schools:	Schools > School of Humanities, Languages & Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Institutional Repository
Date Deposited:	12 Aug 2021 14:42
Last Modified:	04 Aug 2022 11:22
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/61505

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