Her Own Worth: Negotiations of Subjectivity in the Life Narrative of a Female Labourer
"In this study, I examine the life narrative of a female factory labourer, Elsa Koskinen (née Kiikkala, born in 1927). I analyze her account of her experiences related to work, class and gender because I seek to gain a better understanding of how changes in these aspects of life influenced the ways...
Wedi'i Gadw mewn:
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| Fformat: | Online |
| Iaith: | Saesneg |
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Finnish Literature Society / SKS
2021
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| Pynciau: | |
| Mynediad Ar-lein: | 617160 |
| Tagiau: |
Dim Tagiau, Byddwch y cyntaf i dagio'r cofnod hwn!
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| _version_ | 1869522590297489408 |
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| author | Koskinen-Koivisto, Eerika |
| author_browse | Koskinen-Koivisto, Eerika |
| author_facet | Koskinen-Koivisto, Eerika |
| author_sort | Koskinen-Koivisto, Eerika |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | "In this study, I examine the life narrative of a female factory labourer, Elsa Koskinen (née Kiikkala, born in 1927). I analyze her account of her experiences related to work, class and gender because I seek to gain a better understanding of how changes in these aspects of life influenced the ways in which she saw her own worth at the time of the interviews and how she constructed her subjectivity. Elsa’s life touches upon many of the core aspects of 20th-century social change: changes in women’s roles, the entrance of middle- class women into working life, women’s increasing participation in the public sphere, feminist movements, upward social mobility, the expansion of the middle class, the growth of welfare and the appearance of new technologies. What kind of trajectory did Elsa take in her life? What are the key narratives of her life? How does her narrative negotiate the shifting cultural ideals of the 20th century? A life story, a retrospective evaluation of a life lived, is one means of constructing continuity and dealing with the changes that have affected one’s life, identity and subjectivity. In narrating one’s life, the narrator produces many different versions of her/him self in relation to other people and to the world. These dialogic selves and their relations to others may manifest internal contradictions. Contradictions may also occur in relation to other narratives and normative discourses. Both of these levels, subjective meaning making and the negotiation of social ideals and collective norms, are embedded in life narratives.
My interest in this study is in the ways in which gender and class intersect with paid labour in the life of an ordinary female factory worker. I approach gender, class and work from both an experiential and a relational perspective, considering the power of social relationships and subject formations that shape individual life at the micro-level. In her narratives Elsa discusses ambivalence related to gendered ideals, social class, and especially the phenomenon of social climbing as well as technological advance.
I approach Elsa’s life and narratives ethnographically. The research material was acquired in a long-standing interview process and the analysis is based on reflexivity of the dialogic knowledge production and contextualization of Elsa’s experiences. In other words I analyze Elsa’s narratives in their situational but also socio-cultural and historical contexts. Specific episodes in one’s life and other significant events constitute smaller narrative entities, which I call micro-narratives. The analysis of micro-narratives, key dialogues and cultural ideals embedded in the interview dialogues offers perspectives on experiences of social change and the narrator’s sense of self" |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-38373 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Finnish Literature Society / SKS |
| publisherStr | Finnish Literature Society / SKS |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-383732026-05-04T18:58:07Z Her Own Worth: Negotiations of Subjectivity in the Life Narrative of a Female Labourer Koskinen-Koivisto, Eerika dialogue modernization working class life history identification gender Finland Narrative Social class thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBF Social and ethical issues::JBFQ Social mobility thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBG Popular beliefs and controversial knowledge::JBGB Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology) thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSA Social classes thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSF Gender studies, gender groups::JBSF1 Gender studies: women and girls thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology "In this study, I examine the life narrative of a female factory labourer, Elsa Koskinen (née Kiikkala, born in 1927). I analyze her account of her experiences related to work, class and gender because I seek to gain a better understanding of how changes in these aspects of life influenced the ways in which she saw her own worth at the time of the interviews and how she constructed her subjectivity. Elsa’s life touches upon many of the core aspects of 20th-century social change: changes in women’s roles, the entrance of middle- class women into working life, women’s increasing participation in the public sphere, feminist movements, upward social mobility, the expansion of the middle class, the growth of welfare and the appearance of new technologies. What kind of trajectory did Elsa take in her life? What are the key narratives of her life? How does her narrative negotiate the shifting cultural ideals of the 20th century? A life story, a retrospective evaluation of a life lived, is one means of constructing continuity and dealing with the changes that have affected one’s life, identity and subjectivity. In narrating one’s life, the narrator produces many different versions of her/him self in relation to other people and to the world. These dialogic selves and their relations to others may manifest internal contradictions. Contradictions may also occur in relation to other narratives and normative discourses. Both of these levels, subjective meaning making and the negotiation of social ideals and collective norms, are embedded in life narratives. My interest in this study is in the ways in which gender and class intersect with paid labour in the life of an ordinary female factory worker. I approach gender, class and work from both an experiential and a relational perspective, considering the power of social relationships and subject formations that shape individual life at the micro-level. In her narratives Elsa discusses ambivalence related to gendered ideals, social class, and especially the phenomenon of social climbing as well as technological advance. I approach Elsa’s life and narratives ethnographically. The research material was acquired in a long-standing interview process and the analysis is based on reflexivity of the dialogic knowledge production and contextualization of Elsa’s experiences. In other words I analyze Elsa’s narratives in their situational but also socio-cultural and historical contexts. Specific episodes in one’s life and other significant events constitute smaller narrative entities, which I call micro-narratives. The analysis of micro-narratives, key dialogues and cultural ideals embedded in the interview dialogues offers perspectives on experiences of social change and the narrator’s sense of self" 2021-02-10T12:58:18Z 2016-09-26 00:00:00 2020-04-01T13:58:48Z 2014 book 617160 OCN: 1013726224 1235-1954 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/32123 9789522227539;9789522226181 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/38373 eng Studia Fennica Ethnologica open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/32123/1/617160.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/32123/1/617160.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/32123/1/617160.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/32123/1/617160.pdf Finnish Literature Society / SKS 10.21435/sfe.16 10.21435/sfe.16 8ceefe60-b6e9-4502-8498-ff110bb0f062 Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation and SKS 9789522227539;9789522226181 218 Helsinki open access |
| spellingShingle | dialogue modernization working class life history identification gender Finland Narrative Social class thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBF Social and ethical issues::JBFQ Social mobility thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBG Popular beliefs and controversial knowledge::JBGB Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology) thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSA Social classes thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSF Gender studies, gender groups::JBSF1 Gender studies: women and girls thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology Koskinen-Koivisto, Eerika Her Own Worth: Negotiations of Subjectivity in the Life Narrative of a Female Labourer |
| title | Her Own Worth: Negotiations of Subjectivity in the Life Narrative of a Female Labourer |
| title_full | Her Own Worth: Negotiations of Subjectivity in the Life Narrative of a Female Labourer |
| title_fullStr | Her Own Worth: Negotiations of Subjectivity in the Life Narrative of a Female Labourer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Her Own Worth: Negotiations of Subjectivity in the Life Narrative of a Female Labourer |
| title_short | Her Own Worth: Negotiations of Subjectivity in the Life Narrative of a Female Labourer |
| title_sort | her own worth negotiations of subjectivity in the life narrative of a female labourer |
| topic | dialogue modernization working class life history identification gender Finland Narrative Social class thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBF Social and ethical issues::JBFQ Social mobility thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBG Popular beliefs and controversial knowledge::JBGB Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology) thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSA Social classes thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSF Gender studies, gender groups::JBSF1 Gender studies: women and girls thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology |
| topic_facet | dialogue modernization working class life history identification gender Finland Narrative Social class thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBF Social and ethical issues::JBFQ Social mobility thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBG Popular beliefs and controversial knowledge::JBGB Folklore studies / Study of myth (mythology) thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSA Social classes thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JB Society and culture: general::JBS Social groups, communities and identities::JBSF Gender studies, gender groups::JBSF1 Gender studies: women and girls thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology |
| url | 617160 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT koskinenkoivistoeerika herownworthnegotiationsofsubjectivityinthelifenarrativeofafemalelabourer |