Sociology Meets Memoir: An Exploration of Narrative and Method

· NYU Press
Ebook
193
Pages
Tools
Eligible

About this ebook

How sociologists can approach memoir in their writing, research, and in the classroom

Memoirs attract millions of readers with their compelling life stories, vivid details, and often startling revelations. Beyond entertainment value, however, Margaret K. Nelson argues that memoirs hold potential as powerful resources for sociologists to engage with, analyze, and teach. Sociology Meets Memoir is a short and accessible guide to the significance of memoirs for the field of sociology, from their many possible uses to the numerous challenges they pose.

This guide enables sociologists to learn about the different ways memoirs have been used as a medium through which to exercise and encourage the “sociological imagination.” Nelson offers clear definitions of the various and nuanced terms associated with memoir and examples of how different types of stories have been effectively integrated into scholarly research. Readers will gain an understanding of the immense power of memoirs as sociological resources, offering unique access to voices from the past as well as voices from the present which are traditionally marginalized. Nelson also focuses on the genre’s limitations and the difficult methodological questions that accompany their use in scholarly endeavors.

Sociology Meets Memoir is a vital tool for all sociologists interested in this growing genre. By reading this guide, students and teachers alike will gain an understanding of how they might approach the current outpouring of memoirs and incorporate them into their teaching, learning, writing, and research.
How sociologists can approach memoir in their writing, research, and in the classroom Memoirs attract millions of readers with their compelling life stories, vivid details, and often startling revelations. Beyond entertainment value, however, Margaret K. Nelson argues that memoirs hold potential...

About the author

Margaret K. Nelson is A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Sociology Emerita at Middlebury College. Most recently she is the author of Keeping Family Secrets: Shame and Silence in Memoirs from the 1950s and coauthor, with Emily K. Abel, of The Farm and Wilderness Summer Camps: Progressive Ideals in the Twentieth Century.
Margaret K. Nelson is A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Sociology Emerita at Middlebury College. Most recently she is the author of Keeping Family Secrets: Shame and Silence in Memoirs from the 1950s and coauthor, with Emily K. Abel, of The Farm and Wilderness Summer Camps: Progressive Ideals in the...

Rate this ebook

Tell us what you think.

Reading information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.