Stories to Wake Up: Women Narratives Reconstructing Themselves as Sociohistorical Subjects

Main Article Content

Jose Adriano Barbosa-Corredor
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6071-5521

Abstract

This article reports on a research conducted at a private university in Colombia, as part of an English language course in which the topics of study addressed the culture and history of Colombia and Boyacá through art. Narratives from three female students were analyzed, from a decolonial perspective, to observe their processes of reconstruction as sociohistorical subjects taking into account their experiences in the contexts where they study, live in, and come from. The data for this research was gathered inside and outside the classroom through learners’ diaries and dialogical interviews held with the researcher. Narratives served the purpose of making visible elements of those processes and allowed to explore three of them: (1) The construction of particular relationships in and with the world; (2) a perception of unity of past, present, and future; and (3) a sense of their personal and spiritual growth in time. Nevertheless, the narrative of each participant had unique features and values. The results showed that each female had specific anecdotes constructing their experiences, relationships, and plans in their world. One conclusion of the study refers to how the relevance of family, context, childhood memories, and life expectations offer meaningful and memorable topics of discussion within English language lessons for undergraduate learners.

Article Details

How to Cite
Barbosa-Corredor, J. A. (2023). Stories to Wake Up: Women Narratives Reconstructing Themselves as Sociohistorical Subjects. HOW, 30(1), 28–42. https://doi.org/10.19183/how.30.1.644
Section
Research Reports
Author Biography

Jose Adriano Barbosa-Corredor, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí

He holds a master’s in Language Teaching from Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnlógica de Colombia. He is currently candidate to Ph.D. in the program of Latin-American Studies on Territory, Society and Culture, from Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, México.             

References

Bamberg, M., & Andrews, M. (Eds.) (2004). Considering Counter- Narratives. Narrating, Resisting, Making Sense. John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Chisholm, M. (2015). Developing counter-hegemonic pedagogy in adult & higher education. Adult Education Research Conference. New Prairie Press.

Freire, P. (2005). Education for Critical Consciousness. Continuum.

Gee, J. P., & Green, J. L. (1998). Discourse analysis, learning, and social practice: A methodological study. Review of Research in Education, 23, 119-169.

Gill, J. (1991). Merleau-Ponty and metaphor. Humanities Press.

Guerrero, A. L. (2011). Narrative as a resource for the display of self and identity: The narrative construction of an oppositional identity. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal, 13(2), 88- 99.

Hinchman, L. P., & Hinchman, S. K. (Eds.) (1997). Memory, Identity, Community: The idea of Narrative in the Human Sciences. State University of New York Press.

Ochs, E., & Capps, L. (1996). Narrating the self. Review of Anthropology, 25, 19- 43.

Polkinghorne, D. (1988). Practice and narrative. In D. Polkinghorne, Narrative Knowing and the Human Sciences (pp. 157-184). Suny.

Richardson, L. (1994). Writing a Method of Inquiry. In K. Norman & S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (pp. 516- 529). Sage.

Riessman, C. (2002). Analysis of Personal Narratives. In J. F. Gubrium & J. A. Holstein (Eds.), Handbook of Interviewing: Context and Method (pp. 695- 710). Sage.

Riessman, C. K. (2005). Narrative, Memory and Everyday Life. In N. Kelly, C. Horrocks, K. Milnes, B. Roberts, & D. Robinson (Eds.), Narrative, Memory and Everyday Life (pp. 168- 191). University of Huddersfield.

Santos, B. (2009). Pensar el Estado y la Sociedad: Desafios Actuales. Waldhuter.

van Manen, M. (1989). Researching Lived Experience: Human Science Research for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy. Althouse Press.

Yin, R. K. (2011). Qualitative Research from Start to Finish. The Guilford Press.