Sota- ja jälleenrakennusajan muistelukerronta elämäntarinan säikeenä

Authors

• Merja Kristiina Tarvainen Itä-Suomen yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37449/ennenjanyt.89775

Keywords:

narrative circulation, life story, disability, WWII, reconstruction

Abstract

This paper explores reminiscences of the Second World War and reconstruction as a strand of a life story by people who participated in Life of Disabled Persons in Finland 2013–2014 collection. People with disabilities are often disconnected from wider cultural networks of sharing stories and hence may face narrative exclusion. The methodological basis of the study is the model of narrative circulation (MNC), which consists of an inner narrative, a told narrative and the cultural stock of stories.  War time was told as a material and discursive condition, which may have affected the later life course. Reminiscences of reconstruction revealed complex emotional landscapes, which were narrated with the help of material points of reference; the material points of reference facilitated the narratives of heavy memories and conveyed the past emotional worlds. The past emotional worlds are linked with the prevailing conditions of inclusion. Even heavy experiences can be linked with a life story and a wider narrative circulation, since culturally shared resources are available. A connection to diverse narrative resources empowers people to construct their life stories and their narrative agency; which forwards (narrative) inclusion.