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Narrating the Everyday: Windows on Life in Central South Africa

The chapters in this book reflect on the practice of using narratives to understand individual and social reality. They all reveal dimensions of the same concrete reality: contemporary society of Central South Africa. Except for two, all the chapters originated from research in the program The Narrative Study of Lives, situated in the Department of Sociology at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Each chapter opens a window on an aspect of everyday life in Central South Africa. Each window displays the capacity of the narrative as a methodological tool in qualitative research to open up better understandings of everyday experience. The chapters also reflect on the epistemological journey towards unwrapping and breaking open of meaning. Narratives are one of many tools available to sociologists in their quest to understand and interpret meaning. But, when it comes to deep understanding, narratives are particularly effective in opening up more intricate levels of meaning associated with emotions, feelings, and subjective experiences.

Authors: Jan K. Coetzee, University of the Free State; Asta Rau, University of the Free State; Magdalena Wojciechowska, University of Lodz; P. Conrad Kotze, University of the Free State; Alessandra K. Heggenstaller, University of the Free State; Anne Ryen, University of Agder; Ria Smit, Lone Star College; Zukiswa Majali, University of the Free State; Phokeng T. Setai, University of the Free State; Christoph Maeder, University of Zurich; Leane Ackermann, University of the Free State; Sello J. Sele, University of the Free State; Florian Elliker, University of St. Gallen; Cornie Groenewald, Stellenbosch University; Sethulego Z. Matebesi, University of the Free State; Michael Kok, University of the Free State; Ndakaitei Chikonzo, University of the Free State; Amanda Young-Hauser, Massey University; Naomi Yvonne Mbelekani, Technical University of Munich; Seithati Rafoneke; Pia H. Bülow, Jönköping University; Penny Jaffray, University of Fort Hare; Ntombizonke A. Gumede, Africa Health Research Institute; Malilimala Moletsane, University of the Free State; Melissa Kelly, University of the Free State
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18820/9781928424192

Chapters

  • 1. On Stories and Understanding
    Jan K. Coetzee, Asta Rau
  • 2. Deconstructing My Library, Unwrapping My Lifeworld
    Jan K. Coetzee
  • 3. Emotions and Belonging
    Constructing Individual Experience and Organizational Functioning in the Context of an Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Program
    Asta Rau
  • 4. Between Enslavement and Liberation
    Narratives of Belonging from Two Farm Workers
    Jan K. Coetzee, Asta Rau
  • 5. The Everyday in a Time of Transformation
    A Single South African Lifeworld 20 Years after Democracy
    Jan K. Coetzee, P. Conrad Kotze
  • 6. Reflecting on Female Beauty
    Cosmetic Surgery and (Dis)Empowerment
    Jan K. Coetzee, Asta Rau, Alessandra K. Heggenstaller, Anne Ryen, Ria Smit
  • 7. Beauty and the Cosmetic Secret
    Jan K. Coetzee, Asta Rau, Alessandra K. Heggenstaller, Anne Ryen, Ria Smit
  • 8. Hair Discourses
    African Black Women
    Jan K. Coetzee, Asta Rau, Zukiswa Majali
  • 9. The Creative Process
    A Case for Meaning-Making
    Jan K. Coetzee, Magdalena Wojciechowska, Phokeng T. Setai, Christoph Maeder, Leane Ackermann
  • 10. Online Social Networking, Interactions, and Relations
    Students at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein
    Jan K. Coetzee, Sello J. Sele, Florian Elliker, Cornie Groenewald, Sethulego Z. Matebesi
  • 12. Overcoming the Divide
    Young Black South Africans and Upward Mobility
    Jan K. Coetzee, Florian Elliker, Michael Kok
  • 13. Group Identity and Groupness
    Experiences of university students
    Jan K. Coetzee, P. Conrad Kotze, Florian Elliker
  • 14. A Shock to the System
    HIV among Older African Women in Zimbabwe
    Jan K. Coetzee, Asta Rau, Anne Ryen, Florian Elliker, Ndakaitei Chikonzo, Amanda Young-Hauser
  • 15. The Sangoma or the Healthcare Center?
    Jan K. Coetzee, Amanda Young-Hauser, Naomi Yvonne Mbelekani
  • 16. Experiencing Physical Disability
    Young African Women in Lesotho
    Jan K. Coetzee, Amanda Young-Hauser, Seithati Rafoneke, Pia H. Bülow, Penny Jaffray
  • 17. Mother-Daughter Communication on Intimate Relationships
    Jan K. Coetzee, Amanda Young-Hauser, Ntombizonke A. Gumede
  • 18. Life as a Stranger
    Labor Migrants from Lesotho
    Jan K. Coetzee, Asta Rau, Malilimala Moletsane
  • 19. Experiencing Boundaries
    Jan K. Coetzee, Malilimala Moletsane, Melissa Kelly
  • 20. Insurgent Citizenship and Sustained Resistance of a Local Taxi Association
    Sethulego Z. Matebesi

Author Biographies

Jan K. Coetzee, University of the Free State

Senior Professor in the Department of Sociology

Asta Rau, University of the Free State

Director of the Centre for Health Systems Research & Development

Magdalena Wojciechowska, University of Lodz

Instytut Socjologii

P. Conrad Kotze, University of the Free State

Department of Sociology

References

Published
January 1, 2019
Copyright (c) 2019 Jan K. Coetzee, Asta Rau, Magdalena Wojciechowska
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Details about the available publication format: Paperback

Paperback
ISBN-13 (15)
9781928424185
Date of first publication (11)
2019-01-01
Physical Dimensions
175mm x 245mm

Details about the available publication format: PDF

PDF
ISBN-13 (15)
9781928424192
Date of first publication (11)
2019-01-01

Details about the available publication format: EPUB

EPUB
Date of first publication (11)
2019-01-01
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How to Cite

Coetzee, J. K., Rau, A. ., & Wojciechowska, M. . (Eds.). (2019). Narrating the Everyday: Windows on Life in Central South Africa. UJ Press. https://doi.org/10.18820/9781928424192