Biographical Time Research Articles

Synchrony of Intersecting Temporalities in Young People’s Housing Transitions: Intergenerational Cross-national Comparisons

ABSTRACT This paper takes a longer historical view on the topic of young people and housing and examines how intersecting temporalities affect both the timing of moving out of the parental household and the subsequent housing trajectories for three generations in the same families. Synchrony between levels of biographical, family and historical time are important for timing of transitions. A main question addressed is if and how synchrony or lack of such between temporal levels affect biographical decisions in questions of housing and moving out. The paper is based on a study with a case-based cross-national comparative design and involves analysis of cases set in the wider contexts of Norwegian and British societies. In both countries changes at the structural level across generations have affected timing of moving out at the family and biographical levels and thus the synchrony involved in these processes.

The aesthetics of ‘time reckoning’: a Guna chromatic history★

AbstractThis is a study of time and aesthetics through an ethnographic analysis of an indigenous visual system. Looking at historical changes in women's clothing and village patterns among Guna people (Panama), the article shows that images and artefacts are key to shedding light on indigenous historicities. Core visual and material processes encapsulate and manifest biographical and group time. By the same token, such processes provide a privileged perspective to consider how present‐day social relations are the product of long‐term historical transformations. The analysis draws on the relatively overlooked notion of ‘chromatism’ developed by Lévi‐Strauss and subsequently elaborated by Lima as ‘chromatic sociality’. It proposes that ‘chromatism’ is an indigenous category that allows for reckoning with the passing of time and the shifting circumstances of history.

De mujeres y gallinas: transiciones laborales de mujeres residentes en la Región Metropolitana de Buenos Aires

Este trabajo se propone analizar el ingreso al mercado de trabajo de mujeres de las generaciones 1940 a 1979, residentes en el Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires. Para ello, partiendo de la perspectiva de Curso de Vida que enfatiza la importancia analítica del cruce entre el tiempo histórico y el tiempo biográfico, presentaremos algunas características del contexto socio-histórico y la estructura productiva. Luego, con datos cuantitativos analizaremos la participación femenina y la edad al primer empleo junto con sus diferenciales de acuerdo a grupos sociales y generaciones. Asimismo, en base a Historias de Vida presentaremos algunas vivencias de las mujeres nacidas en las décadas de 1940 y 1970, de diversos grupos sociales, sobre sus transiciones laborales. Finalmente, reflexionamos sobre las dificultades de inserción laboral femenina, referidas a contextos desfavorables con altos niveles de desempleo y pobreza, pero también a las provenientes de las desigualdades en la repartición de tareas en el hogar, y a la segregación laboral, por su condición de género.

The direct effect of social origin on men’s occupational attainment over the early life course: An Italian–Dutch comparison

The article examines the direct effect of social origin on occupational attainment over the early life course of Italian and Dutch men in the period 1946–2005. Based on cross-country and cross-cohort comparisons, we explore the role of the context in favouring the direct transmission of social advantages. Early employment careers are reconstructed using the ‘Italian Longitudinal Household Panel Study’ and the ‘Family Survey Dutch Population’. Multilevel growth curve analyses are used to understand whether the direct effect of social origin at labour market entry increases, decreases or remains stable over the first 10 years of occupational career. Empirical results show that, in both countries, the direct social origin effect is stable over historical and biographical time. Independently of structural and institutional conditions influencing the extent of career mobility, offspring hailing from advantaged social background enjoy a better occupational position at labour market entry, while experiencing similar rates of career progression compared to their counterparts from less-advantaged families. However, when entering the labour market in the same occupational position, offspring from the service class enjoy higher rates of progression compared to their working-class counterparts. Taken together, these pieces of evidence imply that the direct social origin effect would decrease over the early career without the additional role that social background plays beyond the labour market entry.

Changing forms of HIV-related stigma along the HIV care and treatment continuum in sub-Saharan Africa: a temporal analysis

ObjectivesStigma remains pervasive for people living with HIV (PLHIV) in sub-Saharan Africa, undermining care engagement. Using everyday, biographical and epochal temporalities, we explored the manifestation of stigma at different stages...

Polio monologues: translating ethnographic text into verbatim theatre

Mass vaccination programmes mean that poliomyelitis is almost a forgotten memory in the Global North. But in reality its effects continue as many people who contracted paralytic polio in childhood may develop functional deterioration (Post-Polio Syndrome or PPS) in later adulthood; mass migration and escape from violence means that it is also re-emerging in contemporary societies. Thus it is crucial for different audiences to have opportunities to engage with, and understand the life histories of polio survivors and their personal experiences of disease and disability across biographical and historical time. This article discusses the process of using recorded delivery verbatim techniques, with disabled and non-disabled actors, to translate ethnographic research about social history of polio into a creative accessible medium for new generation audiences to learn about the hidden, often contested, histories of disability and disease that may collide with professional, medical and public discourse. Our contention is that ethnodrama can give a voice to the voiceless, and enable them to contribute to the production of new knowledge, health interventions and policy instruments that affect their lives.

СОВРЕМЕННАЯ РУССКАЯ АВТОБИОГРАФИЧЕСКАЯ ПРОЗА ВО ВРЕМЕННЫХ ОТНОШЕНИЯХ

In this article the main attention is paid to research into the narrator’s time and the autobiographical hero’s time in the Modern Russian autobiographical prose. First of all it gives outlines of the leading position of the time in the binarization of “time / space” and explanations for relationships of the narrator’s time and the autobiographical hero’s time. The epic time is described as the basic time of the narrator, which manifests itself mainly in two points - change or cessation of chronological movements of the hero. The biographical time is regarded as the dominant time of the autobiographical hero, in which growth and evolution of the hero occur. The study on intersection of the biographical time with historical, everyday and mythological times occupies a great place in the article.

The Linguistic Philosophy of Evgeny Vodolazkin: The Aviator Novel

The article analyses the text of Evgeny Vodolazkin’s novel The Aviator (2016). The focus of the writer defending “the principle of personality” is the inner world of a man in the context of time. The author aims to interpret the linguistic philosophy of the author of the novel. The approaches of linguo-axiological analysis used in the work make it possible to formulate certain conclusions. It is established that the word , conversation , and phrase are instruments of philosophical interpretation of the key problem of the personality correlation, as well as of biographical and historical time. The word, according to the writer, operates as an axiologically marked sign of time, reveals some influence of time on the person, allows for the development of a personal lexicon and on its basis for the assessment not only of the events of their own life, but also historical and revolutionary events. The author characterises the signs of poetics of dialogue, which comes to the surface in the philosophical understanding of the phenomenon of an intimate conversation, allowing each of the partners to verbalise an independent worldview position. The statement of the idea of self-sufficiency of personality is shown in the analytical relation to the absolute truth conveyed by conventional informal expressions in the form of phrases. The novel demonstrates the harmful influence of revolutionary ideological dogmas on the person. The eternal truth reflected in the Scripture is unshakable. The aphorisms based on the axiological experience of the bearer of national culture support the personality-oriented character of the linguistic philosophy of Evgeny Vodolazkin.

Using Geonarratives to Explore the Diverse Temporalities of Therapeutic Landscapes: Perspectives from “Green” and “Blue” Settings

A growing evidence base highlights “green” and “blue” spaces as examples of “therapeutic landscapes” incorporated into people's lives to maintain a sense of well-being. A commonly overlooked dimension within this corpus of work concerns the dynamic nature of people's therapeutic place assemblages over time. This article provides these novel temporal perspectives, drawing on the findings of an innovative three-stage interpretive geonarrative study conducted in southwest England from May to November 2013, designed to explore the complex spatial–temporal ordering of people's lives. Activity maps produced using accelerometer and Global Positioning system (GPS) data were used to guide in-depth geonarrative interviews with thirty-three participants, followed by a subset of go-along interviews in therapeutic places deemed important by participants. Concepts of fleeting time, restorative time, and biographical time are used, alongside notions of individual agency, to examine participants' green and blue space experiences in the context of the temporal structures characterizing their everyday lives and the biographical experiences contributing to the perceived importance of such settings over time. In a culture that by and large prioritizes speed, dominated by social ideals of, for example, the productive worker and the good parent, participants conveyed a desire to shift from fleeting time to restorative time, seeking a balance between embodied stillness and therapeutic mobility. This was deemed particularly important during more stressful life transitions, such as parenthood, employment shifts, and the onset of illness or impairment, when participants worked hard to tailor their therapeutic geographies to shifting well-being needs and priorities.

Did the Ancient Greek Novels Have Characters?

Did the Ancient Greek Novels Have Characters?

Temporal ambivalences of aging: Individual patterns of time use in conflict between time wealth and time poverty

Throughout their lives people are confronted with different time resources and demands that change continuously up into old age. With the help of a qualitative interview study the narrative constructions of subjective time experiences as well as individual ways of dealing with time in retirement were investigated. In particular the influences of older persons' experience of time within the dimensions of everyday time and life time were analyzed. In addition, the study focused on potential time conflicts between these two dimensions and the question of how older people deal with the ambivalence between everyday time wealth and biographical time poverty in older age. The results of the interviews with 50 retired men and women (aged 56-91 years) in Germany, which were analyzed with "grounded theory" techniques, indicated that time in retirement does not indeed always run smoothly. In particular, the individual perception of increasing biographical time poverty exerts pressure on the arrangement of activities and daily routine in retirement. The resulting time conflicts are reflected in differential patterns of time use through which older persons try to cope with their ambivalent time experiences.

Time and chronic illness: a narrative review.

This narrative review is concerned with the ways in which the relationships between time and chronic illnesses have been chartered in recent literature. It aims to identify types of time (referred to here as temporal structures) most commonly reported in chronic illness literature and to assess their bearing on people's lived experiences. Literature searches of three electronic databases (Google Scholar, MEDLINE, and PubMed) were carried out in November 2014 of articles published between 1970 and 2013 using the following search terms (and derivatives): chronic illness AND time AND (patient OR carer). The review followed four procedural steps: (a) comprehensive search, (b) temporal structure appraisal, (c) synthesis of findings, and (d) critical appraisal. Forty studies met the inclusion criteria and were included for review. Four types of called temporal structures had a strong presence in the literature: calendar and clocked time, biographical time, past-present-future time, and inner time and rhythms. The first three temporal structures are largely understood socially, and the fourth is predominantly understood in and through the body. Several studies reported more than one temporal structure as informing people's chronic illness experiences. A wide array of chronic illnesses were represented in these studies. Few studies reported on the experiences of people with multi-morbid chronic illnesses. Chronic illness induces new relationships to time. Drawing on Hyden (Sociol Health Illn 19(1):48-69, 1997), it is suggested that "narrative" storytelling--as a temporally informed analytic device---might prove effective for reconciling the tensions emergent from new and multiple relationships to time that chronic and multiple illnesses create. Opportunities exist for healthcare practitioners and health services to offer patients illness support that is cognisant of their relationships to time.

Un "Príncipe" sin retórica

In order to combat arbitrary interpretations that make Machiavelli in a monument of Western culture and The Prince in a work full of excessive responsibility, this article brings us back to the author's biographical time. We analyze the specific context (Florentine in the first place) in which Machiavelli lived and wrote The Prince , a short treatise that today seems to have lost its most authentic historical sense. Besides this biographical immersion, the article discusses issues relating to the composition, flow, content and fortune of The Prince .

Жанрове визначення твору Ґреґора фон Реццорі “Квіти у снігу”

The body of the article goes on to disclose an autobiographical essay of the major author in the German-speaking area, Gregor von Rezzori’ “Flowers in the Snow” in terms of its genre specific ambiguity.After writing hypothetical autobiographies endlessly, Rezzori dare write an apparently autobiographical novel. Critiques considered him to reach the top of the most-exciting-authors list of the German literature.However, researchers have not determined Rezzori’s Blumen im Schnee so far as an undoubtedly autobiographical book as the genre of classic autobiography. The purpose of the given academic research is to define clear boundaries of its genre model. The problem of Defining the genre becomes far more complex because of representation of ironic pathos.Ironic charades ferment and disguise its real genre format. The author’s astounding ability to arrange his thoughts with insight and poetry enables him to do so while remaining a few paces away from the threshold of historical chronicles. The Outlined perspective is highlighted by the methodological framework of such poetological branches as time space theory and genre forms, structural and semantic hermeneutics-receptive areas of a present day history of literature, and the works of foreign adepts of Rezzori’s works.Taking into account the receptive capacity of the work, it can be determined in the sense of connotations of its genre parameters. The findings lie in the idea that Rezzori’s conventional autobiographical novel appears equally as education novel and might be considered as a synthesis of the two genres subtypes. Firstly, individuality establishing occurs in the biographical time, passing through the unique individual stages.Secondly, a personality self-making is portrayed in close connection with the historical development, it is a historical reality. Noteworthy, the text balancing on the verge of several varieties of genre should be considered as the author’s attempt to find a balance, so its composing is a main obvious “auto-therapeutic” purpose.

Словесно-гуманитарные основы самообразования: рефлексия биографического времени

Словесно-гуманитарные основы самообразования: рефлексия биографического времени

Age and the Tenses of Life Satisfaction

People have a special capacity to live simultaneously in both chronological and biographical time. In this article, we examine reports of life satisfaction that span past, present, and future, considering how perceived changes in certain life domains are associated with overall perceived life trajectories. Analyses use men and women from the Midlife Development in the United States survey. We employ gender-stratified fixed effects regression models to examine the net effect of satisfaction with finances, partnerships/marriage, sex, contribution to others, work, health, and relationship with children on trajectories of overall life satisfaction. Among men, partnership and financial satisfaction had the strongest association with life satisfaction. Women displayed a somewhat broader range of domains related to their trajectories of life satisfaction. Partnership was most important, but their sense of evolving life satisfaction was also tied to their relationship with their children, sexuality, work situation, contribution to others' welfare, and financial situation. We find several notable differences between men and women, but the most telling differences emerge among women themselves across chronological time. For women, partner satisfaction becomes considerably more important across the age groups, whereas sex, contribution to others, and relationships with children all decrease in their importance for overall life satisfaction.

Exploring young people's and youth workers' experiences of spaces for ‘youth development’: creating cultures of participation

The paper focuses on the emergence of ‘positive youth development’ and its impact on older, more established practices of working with young people, such as youth work. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in England between 2004 and 2006, in particular young people's and youth workers' accounts of participating in youth work, the analysis engages with the social spaces in which youth work takes place and asks key questions about why young people might participate in youth spaces, what they get out of participating and how such spaces can promote cultures of participation. The analysis shows that such spaces provide young people and their communities with biographical continuity and time becomes a key component for sustaining such spaces. The argument is made for a more nuanced understanding of what young people get out of their participation in youth spaces, and for an epistemological approach to youth praxis that embraces the messiness and inequalities of lived experience.

Creating Gurdwaras, Narrating Histories: Perspectives on the Sikh Diaspora in Italy

The creation of places of worship in the Indian diaspora has received due attention in social sciences. The current literature has rightfully highlighted the role of religious places in connecting ethnic minority fellows across generations, in promoting continuity with different diasporic locations and in allowing migrants to enter the public sphere in receiving contexts. A minor attention has been paid to how communities’ internal differences and potential conflicts are reflected in migration histories and how this informs heterogeneous understanding of religious places. The article explores how the establishment of Sikh gurdwaras in Central Italy is made differently meaningful in generational migration histories and how this process takes different forms in various Italian localities. It particularly focuses on how religious places are ascribed shifting—and often conflicting—meanings according to the biographical time of migrant experiences in the new territory. The article argues that the public recognition of gurdwaras partly results from Sikh migrants’ spatial move from large metropolitan areas to semi-urban and rural localities. This important passage reflects collective histories of transformation from irregularity to temporarily regular status, as well as a progressive emancipation from bonded labour conditions promoted by ethnic (and Italian) fellows.

The Embodied Life Course: Post-ageism or the Renaturalization of Gender?

This paper argues that the sociology of the body must take more account of embodiment as an ongoing process that occurs over the life course, and it suggests that a critical perspective is required that emphasizes the material processes of embodiment by which physical changes in age and time are culturally mediated. We take the concept of the embodied life course as a starting point for probing the temporal aspects of bodily life, for exploring the ways in which biological, biographical and socio-historical time intersect, and for grasping the ways that temporality is materialized and mobilized through bodies. Taking the example of the biomedical reconfiguration of sexual function across the life course, we demonstrate how aging bodies have been opened to new forms of intervention that situate them within new understandings of nature and culture. Conclusions reflect on the contradictions of ‘post-ageist’ discourses and practices that promise to liberate bodies from chronological age, while simultaneously re-naturalizing gender in sexed bodies.

‘You Can’t Turn Back the Clock’: Conceptualizing Time after Institutionalization

ABSTRACTTime is a phenomenon that is often taken for granted. In gerontology, time is often equated with chronological or linear time, which thereby causes time to be defined as chronological age. With this paper, my purpose is to illuminate further understandings of time and how the passage of time is experienced in old age, particularly in the context of a move to a long-term care institution. Towards that end, I describe a case study of a gentleman coming to live in a long-term care facility. In this case study, time was perceived as an element outside day-to-day experience that structured daily life. Specific dimensions of temporality are evident, including biographical time, embodied time, and embedded time (including institutional time). These dimensions of time provide further understanding of the experiences of age and institutionalization.