Intensive Performances of Mothering: a Sociological Perspective

This article explores multiple identities and meanings of mothering by interpreting two narrative performances of mothering in the early 1970s. One performance is from a work of art by feminist Mary Kelly, Post-Partum Document (1983), the other from a research interview conducted in the early 1980s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative research : QR 2004-04, Vol.4 (1), p.45-75
Main Author: Bell, Susan E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Art Works
Embodiment
Females
Feminism
Interviews
Kelly, Mary
Methodology (Data Collection)
Motherhood
Mothers
Narratives
Performativity
Qualitative analysis
Research methods
Social Identity
Social sciences
Womens Roles
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Summary:This article explores multiple identities and meanings of mothering by interpreting two narrative performances of mothering in the early 1970s. One performance is from a work of art by feminist Mary Kelly, Post-Partum Document (1983), the other from a research interview conducted in the early 1980s with a DES daughter. Both women perform versions of intensive mothering. The essay shows that moving between narratives produced in a research interview and a work of art enlarges the field of narrative analysis and fills in details about how intensive mothering is a historically specific and embodied practice.
ISSN:1468-7941
1741-3109
DOI:10.1177/1468794104041107