Researching family practices in everyday life: methodological reflections from two studies

The study of the everyday is recognised as central to the understanding of identities, agency and social life. Yet, attempts to research everyday life often fail to capture the complexity of the mundane. This paper draws on findings from two studies: fatherhood across three generations and adult narratives of childhood language brokering to illuminate that complexity. The purpose of bringing these studies together is methodological; in particular, it is to examine how the storied material generated by narrative approaches can contribute to understanding of the everyday practices of family life, practices that are often unacknowledged, hidden or assumed. One study adopted a narrative form of interviewing while the second combined narrative photo-elicitation techniques with narrative accounts. Methodologically, the two studies illustrate that no one method produces ‘objective’, comprehensive knowledge of family practices. Together, however, they produce new insights into family practices around fatherhood, migration and language brokering and how participants ‘do’, ‘display’ and commemorate family. The paper argues that narrative approaches, sometimes alongside visual methods, can assist holistic analyses of family practices from sociocultural, intergenerational and life course perspectives.     

Protagonists' and Adoptive Process Representations in Italian Children's Books About International Adoption: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative study aims at identifying the main representations of the international adoption process through a comparative analysis of 62 Italian stories about international adoption. Content analysis involves the use of thematic analysis as well as computer-assisted text analysis. Results show that adoption is represented varying from a polarization in which “the positive” is situated in the “adoptive world” while “the negative” pertains to the world of the origins, to a more integrated representation in which both the adoptive context and the origins entail positive aspects.     

Working with Stories: Street-Level Bureaucrats and Their Work with Individuals with Psychiatric Disability Exposed to Interpersonal Violence

ABSTRACT

The focus of our attention is the meeting between street-level bureaucrats and individuals with psychiatric disability exposed to interpersonal violence. Based on 11 interviews, we illustrate how stories are understood, used, and made meaningful to the street-level bureaucrat. The contribution of this article is first of all that of being a framework, from a storytelling point of view, for the work and organizational experiences of street-level bureaucrats. Second, by paying attention to the story part of these relationships, we can better understand the situation of individuals with psychiatric disability exposed to interpersonal violence given their interaction with different street-level bureaucrats.     

婚姻报恩与《聊斋志异》恩报主题

《聊斋志异》恩报思想体现于婚姻关系合理缔结,赞赏女子以献身生子的方式来报答施恩于其家者,恩报关系成为两性婚爱关系建立的前提动机和情感基础。而为了报恩不必受封建礼教对男女交往的束缚,礼法规范被恩报义务所取代。女子成为婚姻的主动者,常常为履行报恩使命无媒自嫁,冲破人鬼、人与动物精怪的界限。蒲松龄婚姻报恩主张与其整个报恩观分不开。其一强调奴仆对主子报恩,二是强调朋友或普通人之间受恩必报。局限性是以恩为标准,故本质上每每与情、与两性之爱相矛盾相冲突。它还基于把女性和性爱婚姻看成报恩工具的深层意念,精怪、女鬼实际上也是现实生活中弱势群体的化身,她们的报恩本质上也是男性性满足之必然性期盼的产物。     

论老舍短篇小说中的传奇色彩

老舍短篇小说中的传奇色彩最早是由郑振铎指出的。主要表现在它的故事性强、故事情节复杂多变、情节的不同寻常等。究其原因是受到了外国文学尤其是英国作家康拉德以及中国传统小说的影响。小说中的传奇色彩对老舍的小说和戏剧创作都有着重要意义。     

看似寻常却奇崛——浅析奥斯丁小说的题材选择与叙事方式

简·奥斯丁的作品持续不断地得到普通读者和评论家的青睐，历经二百年而不衰，奥秘就在于她对传奇的巧妙化用——继承而又不落俗套——和独特的叙述视角——超然与外，容纳一切，在因袭浪漫故事的古老框架的同时又敢于突破常规，用细腻传神的笔为世界文学贡献了浪漫而又现实的爱情故事。     

古代神魔小说中的宝瓶崇拜及其佛道渊源

明清小说宝瓶神物崇拜广义上也包括宝罐及瓶状器物,如如意瓶、杀敌瓶、囚敌瓶等。作为神魔小说一个重要艺术机杼,直接来源于佛经文学叙事及道教法器信仰。宝瓶与现世兵器有多重区别,审美价值在于:使夸张特定人物的超自然能力更为可信;适合妖怪多"谪仙"下界的身份,不至使其因杀戮过甚难于收场,"暂困"还不至于亵渎"超级英雄"和天将们的尊严;宝瓶类兵器内深藏不露的隐秘性,以"瓶中世界"展演了佛教空间观,开辟了神魔叙事更多的空间世界和艺术表现力,同时其多与咒术、符等相结合,体现了佛教"不杀生"而使敌手在囚禁中"自灭自毁"思想,较大程度上减少了利用宝物屠杀"生灵"所可能带来的副作用。     

Beer and Tea: Harmony and Contradiction Among Two Unlikely Counterparts

This essay begins by examining the representations and interpretations of women and men in two sets of images: the Women's Institute Alternative Calendar and a television commercial for Guinness beer. Both of these compositions are exceptional in their own right, and have captured the imaginations of wide audiences. Taken together, the counterpointing of culture and nature, serenity and intensity, and feminine charm and virility creates a montage of images that both reflect and represent traditional forms of femininity and masculinity. This essay draws on a variety of sociological and interdisciplinary theoretical approaches, with an emphasis on the storied nature of lives, sexuality, and life change. C. Wright Mills declares that the sociological imagination is necessary in order to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society (Mills, 1959, p. 6). The author's aim in this essay, following through on Mills's idea, is to provide insight into the lives of earlier cohorts of women and a glimpse into how personal and social change comes about.     

话本小说与江南文化

话本小说与江南文化有着很深的渊源关系。江南文化对话本小说的内容及艺术都有影响,同时还存在消极作用。