Identity in Narrative: A Study of Immigrant Discourse

This volume presents both an analysis of how identities are built, represented and negotiated in narrative, as well as a theoretical reflection on the links between narrative discourse and identity construction. The data for the book are Mexican immigrants' personal experience narratives and chronicles of their border crossings into the United States. Embracing a view of identity as a construct firmly grounded in discourse and interaction, the author examines and illustrates the multiple threads that connect the local expression and negotiation of identity to the wider social contexts that frame the experience of migration, from material conditions of life in the United States to mainstream discourses about race and color. The analysis reveals how identities emerge in discourse through the interplay of different levels of expression, from implicit adherence to narrative styles and ways of telling, to explicit negotiation of membership categories.

Table of contents

 

Acknowledgements	xi
Introduction	1–9
1. Identity in narrative: A discourse approach	11–30
2. The social phenomenon: Mexican migration to the U.S.	31–50
3. Identity as social orientation: Pronominal choice	51–92
4. Identity as agency: Dialogue and action in narrative	93–138
5. Identity as categorization: Identification strategies	139–180
6. Identity as social representation: Negotiating affiliations	181–216
7. Conclusions	217–224
Appendix 1. Interview log	225–227
Appendix 2. Transcription conventions	229
Notes	231–235
Bibliography	237–248
Index	249–251