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6 - Sociobiographies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Colette Daiute
Affiliation:
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
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Summary

MANY WAYS TO TELL A WAR STORY

War influences generations, in large part, through how people talk about it. Having considered the cultural–historical process of script making across a political system, we now explore how individual young people transform national scripts into personal stories. Stories are variations on shared scripts, still social but specific in experience and choice, as expressed in the youth drawing in Figure 6.1. Although not asked to talk or write about war, some participants chose to do so, albeit in very different ways that provide a segue for discussing how young people define themselves in the inescapable shadow of political violence.

There is a debate about building a monument for children killed during the war, and it is very sad to see disagreement whether or not it should be for all children from all of Sarajevo or only for its Federation part. They still debate this issue, tensions are really big, and parents of those children feel used.

Consistent with the “tensions abound” script, 22-year-old Diana narrates a conflict in her hometown of Sarajevo in BiH. In this brief story, Diana foregrounds the war and its consequences as influencing “all Sarajevo.” As narrator, Diana embodies the tension, “it is very sad to see …” and implies her view that the monument should be “for all children from all Sarajevo.” Although not explicitly about herself, Diana's story presents a self-image. She expresses the local emotional context with comments about sadness, tensions, and feelings of being used.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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  • Sociobiographies
  • Colette Daiute
  • Book: Human Development and Political Violence
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779725.007
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  • Sociobiographies
  • Colette Daiute
  • Book: Human Development and Political Violence
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779725.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Sociobiographies
  • Colette Daiute
  • Book: Human Development and Political Violence
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511779725.007
Available formats
×