Description
Morgan’s (1997) pioneering work celebrated previously obscured issues of significant sociological importance, when themes such as family, home, body and food became the subject of exploration and interrogation. In this paper we will be exploring the implications of embodied acts of estrangement between family members, that might well occur in the home, in private and through through everyday acts. Events and cycles of family estrangement can also be helpfully understood through the lens of epiphanies (Denzin 2001). Epiphanies as problematic personal situations, occur when an encounter and experience turn into a crisis, yet these are not just personal, they are connected to larger social and public issues which transcend local environments. Denzin suggests there are four forms of epiphany: major, cumulative, minor and illuminative. It is the particular character and feel of epiphanies that we draw upon when exploring the lived experience of estrangement in our own auto/biographical narratives, which can often be dramatic events with beginnings, middles, and endings. The general lack of narratives around estrangement in families indicates that these narrative performances can allow space for reflection on our individual and combined lived experiences during moments of epiphany.Pettersen, G., Overli, B. and Morgan, D. H. J. (1997) “Family Connections - an Introduction to Family Studies,” Acta sociologica, 40(3), p. 321.
Denzin, N., 2001. Interpretive Interactionism. Applied social research methods, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. http://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781412984591
| Period | 3 Dec 2021 |
|---|---|
| Event title | ‘Auto/Biography and everyday life: a celebration of the work and legacy of David Morgan’ : Auto/Biographical reflections on ‘estrangement’ in everyday life. |
| Event type | Conference |
Keywords
- estrangement
- narrative
- epiphanies