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

Langtree, SK

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.

Citation

Langtree, S. Girls interrupted : narrative constructions of identity among teenage mothers in the UK and France. (Thesis). University of Salford

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Aug 12, 2021
• Award Date: Nov 1, 2011