Her Own Worth: Negotiations of Subjectivity in the Life Narrative of a Female Labourer

"In this study, I examine the life narrative of a female factory labourer, Elsa Koskinen (née Kiikkala, born in 1927). I analyze her account of her experiences related to work, class and gender because I seek to gain a better understanding of how changes in these aspects of life influenced the ways in which she saw her own worth at the time of the interviews and how she constructed her subjectivity. Elsa’s life touches upon many of the core aspects of 20th-century social change: changes in women’s roles, the entrance of middle- class women into working life, women’s increasing participation in the public sphere, feminist movements, upward social mobility, the expansion of the middle class, the growth of welfare and the appearance of new technologies. What kind of trajectory did Elsa take in her life? What are the key narratives of her life? How does her narrative negotiate the shifting cultural ideals of the 20th century? A life story, a retrospective evaluation of a life lived, is one means of constructing continuity and dealing with the changes that have affected one’s life, identity and subjectivity. In narrating one’s life, the narrator produces many different versions of her/him self in relation to other people and to the world. These dialogic selves and their relations to others may manifest internal contradictions. Contradictions may also occur in relation to other narratives and normative discourses. Both of these levels, subjective meaning making and the negotiation of social ideals and collective norms, are embedded in life narratives. My interest in this study is in the ways in which gender and class intersect with paid labour in the life of an ordinary female factory worker. I approach gender, class and work from both an experiential and a relational perspective, considering the power of social relationships and subject formations that shape individual life at the micro-level. In her narratives Elsa discusses ambivalence related to gendered ideals, social class, and especially the phenomenon of social climbing as well as technological advance. I approach Elsa’s life and narratives ethnographically. The research material was acquired in a long-standing interview process and the analysis is based on reflexivity of the dialogic knowledge production and contextualization of Elsa’s experiences. In other words I analyze Elsa’s narratives in their situational but also socio-cultural and historical contexts. Specific episodes in one’s life and other significant events constitute smaller narrative entities, which I call micro-narratives. The analysis of micro-narratives, key dialogues and cultural ideals embedded in the interview dialogues offers perspectives on experiences of social change and the narrator’s sense of self

Her Own Worth: Negotiations of Subjectivity in the Life Narrative of a Female Labourer

"In this study, I examine the life narrative of a female factory labourer, Elsa Koskinen (née Kiikkala, born in 1927). I analyze her account of her experiences related to work, class and gender because I seek to gain a better understanding of how changes in these aspects of life influenced the ways in which she saw her own worth at the time of the interviews and how she constructed her subjectivity. Elsa’s life touches upon many of the core aspects of 20th-century social change: changes in women’s roles, the entrance of middle- class women into working life, women’s increasing participation in the public sphere, feminist movements, upward social mobility, the expansion of the middle class, the growth of welfare and the appearance of new technologies. What kind of trajectory did Elsa take in her life? What are the key narratives of her life? How does her narrative negotiate the shifting cultural ideals of the 20th century? A life story, a retrospective evaluation of a life lived, is one means of constructing continuity and dealing with the changes that have affected one’s life, identity and subjectivity. In narrating one’s life, the narrator produces many different versions of her/him self in relation to other people and to the world. These dialogic selves and their relations to others may manifest internal contradictions. Contradictions may also occur in relation to other narratives and normative discourses. Both of these levels, subjective meaning making and the negotiation of social ideals and collective norms, are embedded in life narratives. My interest in this study is in the ways in which gender and class intersect with paid labour in the life of an ordinary female factory worker. I approach gender, class and work from both an experiential and a relational perspective, considering the power of social relationships and subject formations that shape individual life at the micro-level. In her narratives Elsa discusses ambivalence related to gendered ideals, social class, and especially the phenomenon of social climbing as well as technological advance. I approach Elsa’s life and narratives ethnographically. The research material was acquired in a long-standing interview process and the analysis is based on reflexivity of the dialogic knowledge production and contextualization of Elsa’s experiences. In other words I analyze Elsa’s narratives in their situational but also socio-cultural and historical contexts. Specific episodes in one’s life and other significant events constitute smaller narrative entities, which I call micro-narratives. The analysis of micro-narratives, key dialogues and cultural ideals embedded in the interview dialogues offers perspectives on experiences of social change and the narrator’s sense of self

Monikerroksinen ja -ääninen kaupunki: Näkökulmia humanistiseen kaupunkitutkimukseen

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Lapin synkkä kulttuuriperintö : Ajatuksia toisen maailmansodan jälkeensä jättämästä perinnöstä

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Remembering and Forgetting, Discovering and Cherishing: Engagements with Material Culture of War in Finnish Lapland

The events of the Second World War left considerable material remains in Finnish Lapland, ranging from the remnants of structures that were destroyed in the 1944–45 Lapland War, through to small, portable objects connected to soldiers, prisoners of war and civilians. These material remains have variously been saved and cherished by survivors and their families, disregarded as ‘war junk’, ‘discovered’ by hobbyists exploring the landscape, amassed and exchanged by private collectors, and accessioned into official museum collections. These various processes represent transformations of material culture to take on various meanings and embodiments, depending on the different individuals and organizations involved. In this article we present and analyse data collected through ethnographic fieldwork in and around the Lapland village of Vuotso: primarily interviews and observations. We have conducted interviews with history hobbyists and museum professionals who engage with the WWII history of Lapland, and observed the treatment of ‘war material culture’, for example through exhibitions (both public and hidden) and through personal meaning-making practices. These encounters have centred around the material remains of the Second World War, and the ways in which different actors perceive, value and otherwise understand those remains. While some objects are transformed through musealisation, others remain ‘officially’ unknown and unrecognized (although known – even traded and exchanged – through private channels). Furthermore it may be as important for some actors to leave material culture in situ – for example as testimony to the past conflict or trauma – as it is for others to exercise personal ownership. Within this context, we deconstruct the notion of ‘expert’ as it relates to the local and historical knowledge. Being regarded by peers and others as an expert is not necessarily the same thing as having professional authority and status, for example as a museum curator or university-affiliated scholar. We draw upon theories of relational materiality, and suggest different typologies of engagement with the material culture. Different networks of interest and expertise emerge, dependent on the actors involved (including their status – e.g. museum professional, survivor, ‘incomer’, local activist – and how their knowledge is thus accepted, challenged or rejected by others), the context of ownership, situationality and perceived levels of authenticity

Tutkimuskohteena läheinen ihminen: Refleksiivisen ja dialogisen tutkimusotteen mahdollisuudet ja rajoitteet etnografisessa tutkimuksessa

Along with the so-called reflexive turn and dialogic and constructive epistemologies, reflexivity became a crucial part of the ethnographic research process. The studies that are conducted among one’s close social circles require special attention when it comes to the choices made throughout the research process and the relationship between the researcher and the informant(s). This article rests upon the life narrative interviews that the author made with her grandmother for her PhD research. In the dissertation, the starting point was that a life narrative that is about negotiation between individual experience and cultural norms and ideals, is constructed within the context of intergenerational dialogue, in which the author also participated. In the article, the author scrutinises the challenges caused by a closer relationship between the informant and their relatives, as well as the potential and risks embedded in the dialogic and reflexive approach in ethnographic research. It is argued how reflexive and dialogic epistemologies shaped the research at different phases of the process: when choosing the topic, formulating the adequate research questions, gathering the research material, analysing it, and, finally, when presenting these interpretations in a text. The author also reflects on the impact of a close relationship between the researcher and the informant in the creation of a dialogue and in the interpretations made.Niin antropologit, kansatieteilijät kuin folkloristitkin ovat kirjoittaneet tutkimuskohteen läheisyydestä, tutulla kentällä ja ”kotona” tehtävästä tutkimuksesta. Pohdinnat paikantumisesta, tutkimusetiikasta ja tutkijan roolista alkoivat niin sanotun refleksiivisen käänteen myötä 1980- ja 90-lukujen aikana. Tämä artikkeli perustuu väitöskirjalleni, jossa tarkastelin isoäitini Elsa Koskisen elämänkerrontaa. Analysoin kertomuksia paitsi suhteessa hänen elämänhistoriaansa ja kokemusten kirjoon myös kulttuurisen kontekstiin, joka kattaa laajan aikajänteen menneisyydestä nykypäivään. Lähtökohtanani oli, että neuvottelu yksilön kokemusten ja kulttuuristen normien ja ideaalien välillä rakentuu ylisukupolvisessa dialogissa, jonka toinen osapuoli itse olen. Jälkikäteen tarkasteltuna vaikuttaa kuitenkin siltä, että tutkimusasetelmastani ja tavoitteestani huolimatta onnistuin monin paikoin häivyttämään itseni, omat tavoitteeni sekä osuuteni tutkimuksessani esittämiini tulkintoihin. Pohdin artikkelissa tutkimuskohteen läheisyyden, erityisesti sukulaisuuden, mukanaan tuomia haasteita sekä dialogisen ja refleksiivisen tutkimusotteen mahdollisuuksia ja rajoituksia etnografisessa tutkimuksessa. Kysyn, miten refleksiivisyys ja dialogisuus ohjasivat tutkimustani ja toteutuivat sen eri vaiheissa: aiheen valinnassa ja kysymysten muotoutumisessa, aineistonkeruun ja haastattelun konteksteissa, tutkimuseettisissä valinnoissa sekä analyysin ja tulkintojen prosessissa, joka kulminoituu tutkimustekstin kirjoittamiseen. Pohdin myös läheisen suhteen ja sukulaisuuden vaikutusta dialogin syntymiseen ja luonteeseen sekä tehtyihin tulkintoihin. Mahdollistaako vai estääkö tutkimuskohteen läheisyys dialogisen metodologian toteutumisen tutkimuksen eri vaiheissa

Tehdasyhteisön huumori lujittavana resurssina

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