For this study, twelve life stories of alumni from the Vrije Universiteit in
Amsterdam, who were enrolled during the Nazi Occupation between 1940 and 1945,
were collected and analyzed. Besides exploring the extent to which the interviews were
co-constructed jointly by the interviewer and interviewees, this study addresses three
questions. First, it acknowledges methodological concerns associated with an
overabundance of narrative data, and suggests a new method for arriving at a core
narrative based on the distribution of time. This core narrative can then be analyzed
further. Second, it is suggested that early memories serve as identity claims; because of
their congruency with the remainder of the story, they appear to foreshadow what is to
come. As a result, it is argued that childhood memories merit special attention in the
analysis of narratives. Third, and finally, the constraints on narratives imposed by
cultural conventions, or master narratives, are explored. Narrators use a variety of
strategies in order to satisfy sometimes competing demands on their narratives. It is
argued that culture makes its influence felt in ways that are not always obvious,
particularly if the interviewee and interviewer share the same culture.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-1684 |
| Date | 15 May 2009 |
| Creators | Visser, Roemer Maarten Sander |
| Contributors | Clark, M. Carolyn, Slattery, G. Patrick |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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