The (mis)uses of life histories. The linguistic turn, life histories and (women's) life stories

Abstract

This paper retraces the debates on life-histories before and after the linguistic turn in the social sciences, and, more specifically, in the anthropological tradition. It stresses how poststructuralist feminist methodological, theoretical, and political appropriations of personal narratives represent a significant textual intervention in the gendered social-cultural scripts of women's lives.

Artigos

The (mis)uses of life histories. The linguistic turn, life histories and (women's) life stories

Claudia de Lima Costa1

1Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina - Brasil

ABSTRACT

This paper retraces the debates on life-histories before and after the linguistic turn in the social sciences, and, more specifically, in the anthropological tradition. It stresses how poststructuralist feminist methodological, theoretical, and political appropriations of personal narratives represent a significant textual intervention in the gendered social-cultural scripts of women's lives.

Key words: feminist theories; life history; subjectivity; women's life stories

RESUMO

Este artigo analisa os debates sobre histórias de vida que antecederam e sucederam as discussões sobre a virada linguística nas ciências sociais, principalmente na tradição antropológica. O artigo argumenta que o feminismo pós-estruturalista, ao reapropriar-se teórica, metodológica e politicamente das histórias de vida, representou importante intervenção nos "textos" sociais e culturais disponíveis às mulheres na construção de seus relatos de vida e de suas subjetividades.

Palavras-Chave: história de vida; narrativa de mulheres; subjetividade; teorias feministas

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