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Petit Narratives

Bradley University, Illinois

This article is an autoethnography. It is not meant to be a self-involved collection of memories, but it is an exploration of universal experiences and how they are played out in the lives of specific women. It is unique not only because it is individual response to universal events, but also because it demonstrates very clearly how more than just gold is passed down from generation to generation. By looking at the écriture left by each of the generations, the universal themes of life, death, birth, relationships, and progress are brought to life in a new way. We can slowly gain new perspectives on how people survive and continue to thrive and the importance of passing along strength, passion, courage, and love along with material possessions. We have blithely and in many cases rightly abandoned the grand narratives espoused by our historians of the past. One way to replace them is by looking at the petit narratives of ordinary people responding to universal themes. These pieces passed on through generations help to insure our own immortality and give new generations something solid to hang onto.

Key Words: autoethnography • material culture • my story • psychobiography

Qualitative Inquiry, Vol. 14, No. 6, 1010-1018 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1077800408321974


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