For many Americans work plays a prominent role in the construction of one’s identity. However, experiencing job loss or unemployment disrupts a normal progress to living a successful life as outlined by the master narrative of the American Dream. In the present study I explore disruptions to personal identities and cultural narratives by conducting a narrative thematic analysis of stories told by unemployed individuals in online settings. The findings reveal five prominent identities including: (a) victim, (b) redeemed, (c) hopeless, (d) bitter, and (e) entitledanddumbfounded. The individuals performed these identities through telling stories of their disruptions that worked to reflect, construct, disrupt, and counter the master narrative of the American Dream. In this analysis I discuss avenues for exploring how constructions of individual identities disrupt cultural narratives, and the resulting implications for narrative theory.
2023. Marketing the Self vs. Preserving the Self: Resisting Downward Mobility in the New Economy. Social Problems
Alvarez, Cimmiaron F., Brooke H. Wolfe & Kristina M. Scharp
2022. Identity (Re)constructions in Mothers’ Online Stories about Terminating Wanted Pregnancies Due to Health Complications. Health Communication 37:6 ► pp. 668 ff.
Crowley, Jenny L. & Joshua R. Pederson
2022. Relational load when a romantic partner is unemployed: the role of communal coping and social network support. Communication Quarterly 70:4 ► pp. 345 ff.
Barker, Brittan A., Kristina M. Scharp, Kelsey L. Chandler & Emma B. Bowman
2021. Exploring the Types of Stories Hearing Parents Tell About Rearing their Children Who Use Cochlear Implants. Ear & Hearing 42:5 ► pp. 1284 ff.
Barker, Brittan A., Kristina M. Scharp, Shea A. Long & Caitlyn R. Ritter
2020. Narratives of identity: understanding the experiences of adults with hearing loss who use hearing aids. International Journal of Audiology 59:3 ► pp. 186 ff.
Jackl, Jennifer A.
2018. Rules of telling. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 35:2 ► pp. 263 ff.
Scharp, Kristina M, Brittan A Barker, Sidney N Rucker & Hannah D Jones
2018. Exploring the Identities of Hearing Parents who Chose Cochlear Implantation for their Children with Hearing Loss. The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 23:2 ► pp. 131 ff.
Dunn, Cynthia Dickel
2017. Personal Narratives and Self-Transformation in Postindustrial Societies. Annual Review of Anthropology 46:1 ► pp. 65 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 25 october 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
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