Narrating – showing – seeing: How to analyze a family photo album in connection with a narrative interview

Authors

  • Roswitha Breckner Universität Wien, Austria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7289.2014.2.17866

Keywords:

Narrative interview. Picture. Photo album.

Abstract

Family photo albums are places where memories are created and fixed (Chalfen, 1987). They consist mainly of photographs and other kind of visual material (postcards, tickets, etc.), as well as more or less extensive captions and comments. Traditionally, the pictures are organized in a booklet, that is in a sequential order which implicitly is based on a pictorial as well as narrative structure of presenting and creating a ‘family frame’ (Hirsch, 1997/2002). How a specific image of ‘family’ emerges, grounded in experience and conventions, when creating and looking at a family photo album? Focusing on this general question, in this article the analysis of a family album is presented. Hereby the methodical way of interpreting a pictorial self-presentation will be made visible. The results of this analysis are combined and contextualized by a biographic-narrative interview.

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Author Biography

Roswitha Breckner, Universität Wien, Austria

Áustria, presidente do Comitê de Pesquisa 38 (Biografia e Sociedade) da Associação Internacional de Sociologia (ISA).

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Published

2014-06-26

How to Cite

Breckner, R. (2014). Narrating – showing – seeing: How to analyze a family photo album in connection with a narrative interview. Civitas: Journal of Social Sciences, 14(2), 285–306. https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7289.2014.2.17866