Narratives and social experience of migration.

Study Notes
Agnese Vardanega University of Koper, July 5th 2011

Narratives are considered as the basic way human beings give their experience coherence and meaning1. Narrative method is widely used in cultural anthropology and ethnography in order to study cultures through the analysis of myths, tales, songs, personal accounts, etc. In sociology, the origins of the use of (auto)biographies, private documents and collective stories as a source of information can be traced back in the work of Thomas and Znaniecki: The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (1918-20) is an attempt to study social changes introduced by the experience of migration (at an individual and a social level), based on narratives such as letters, diaries, life-histories. In the narrative method, in fact, personal documents and accounts are considered as the privileged locus for accessing individual experience, and to determine elements that generalisable or not are attributable to the social context. Under many respects, the core of this method dates back to Dilthey, who gave autobiography a central role in the humanities. However, there are different ways of conceiving the relationship between subjective experience and social organisation (of both practices and sense), related to different ways of understanding the social, as well as the subjectivity. In analysing stories from a sociological perspective, I find it helpful to refer to the concept of social experience (Dubet 1994). In this perspective, personal experience is interpreted by actors on the basis of the knowledge (categories) disposable in their social environment. Although categories are somehow given and external, actors have to interpret the particular situations in which they are actually involved, and to negotiate their points of view with significant others (including the researcher as an interviewer, when it is the case): as a consequence, the result is always peculiar, and not determined by the social environment. Social actors, in other terms, construct (interpret, give a sense to) their experience in a kind of conversation with their close circles (in Simmels terms), as well as with their broader social environment. This is how they give form to their personal accounts, and to cultural objects such as narratives. In this perspective, it is true that, after all, the two are not so different. By studying personal accounts, however, we have access to the labor (travail) of the actor as an interpreter, i.e. individuals use and re-invention of categories; in cultural objects, instead, we aim at finding shared categories. When analysing stories of migration, thus, we are interested in finding the shared categories transmitted in narratives.

1 See the early contribute of the psychologist Jerome Seymour Bruner, and, recently the influential works of George Lakoff.

Agnese Vardanega

July 5th 2011

The following is an Italian popular song of the beginning of 900. Although the structure is very simple, it is rich in interpretive categories referring to the experience of migration.

Mamma mia dammi cento lire1

Mamma mia dammi cento lire che in America voglio andar Cento lire io te le do ma in America no no no no no no no cento lire io te le do ma in America no no no Suoi fratelli a la finestra mamma mia lassla and Vai vai pure o figlia ingrata che qualcosa succeder Vai vai pure o figlia ingrata che qualcosa succeder Quan fu stata in mezzo al mare bastimento si l fund Pescatore che peschi i pesci la mia figlia vai tu a pescar Pescatore che peschi i pesci la mia figlia vai tu a pescar I miei capelli son ricci e belli lacqua del mare li marcir li marcir i miei capelli son ricci e belli lacqua del mare li marcir Le parole dei miei fratelli sono quelle che mn trad che mn trad le parole dei miei fratelli sono quelle che mn trad Le parole della mia mamma son venute la verit la verit le parole della mia mamma son venute la verit Oh Mom, give me a hundred pounds To America I want to go A hundred pounds, I will give you But to America, no no no

Her brothers at the window Oh Mom, let her go Go, go on, ungrateful daughter, but something will happen

When arrived in the middle of the sea The ship sank Fisherman, who fish the fish, Will you go fishing my daughter?

My hair are curly and beautiful Sea water will cause them to rot

The words of my brothers (Are what) have betrayed me,

Mom's words Came out to be true.

1 There are numerous versions of this song. You may listen a version of the 60s, on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh2hfU5rl24

Agnese Vardanega

July 5th 2011

Within a narrative, according to the formal narrative theorists (Propp), we should distinguish between: the story, as the raw material of the narrative: a girl wants to go to America, against the will of her mother, and dies as the ship sinks; the plot, as the literary device used by the story-teller: for example, the mother represented, at the same time, as the helper (gives the money; asks the fisherman to fish her daughter) and the opponent (opposes the departure; calls the girl ungrateful); the same is typically for the ship. themes, content clusters often repeated in stories (the sinking ship); Migration stories are generally stories of journeys, involving an absentation (in Propps terms), the abandonment of family and local community. It is possible to retrieve these themes in personal accounts (interviews, biographies, diaries, letters), as well as in novels, movies, or popular culture (folklore). More recently, this approach has also been adopted to analyse news and political discourses, with the aim of studying dominant social representations of migrants and migration in general. Most important (also) for a sociological analysis of narratives is Greimas actantial model, a model for analysing the structural roles typically performed in story-telling.
The actantial model, developed by A.J. Greimas, allows us to break an action down into six facets, or actants: (1) The subject (for example, the Prince) is what wants or does not want to be joined to (2) an object (the rescued Princess, for example). (3) The sender (for example, the King) is what instigates the action, while the (4) receiver (for example, the King, the Princess, the Prince) is what benefits from it. Lastly, (5) a helper (for example, the magic sword, the horse, the Prince's courage) helps to accomplish the action, while (6) an opponent (the witch, the dragon, the Prince's fatigue or a suspicion of terror) hinders it ( Louis Hbert, The Actantial Model).

It is important to underline that actants do not necessarily correspond to characters and social actors. Objects can act too, i.e. the ship or the boat, or the train in migrants narratives, or the sword in Arthurs tales (Excalibur). In a sociological study, however, the population of tales and accounts should always be considered with particular attention, in order to specify the roles played by the various social actors, also, but not only, in a narrative perspective. For this purpose, and after having identified the subject (the protagonist), it may be useful to distinguish - with Berger and Luckmann (1969) - between significant others, competitors, and chorus (people who say, think, etc.). These Others populate specific social spheres, such as family, work, home town, group of peers, the religious community, etc. significant others family work ...
Agnese Vardanega 3 July 5th 2011

competitors

chorus

We can thus apply a scheme like the one shown above. Countries with a long history of migration, such as Italy, are deeply affected in their identities by this collective experience. This is probably one of the reasons why old songs of migrants are still popular in many countries1, and these themes are still present in contemporary songs. It is also true, however, that the journey and the estrangement are archetypal themes that have inspired many novels and works of art, often mixed with the theme of migration. Particularly interesting is for example this song of the Pogues (Irish-punk group), in which two stories are mixed: the protagonists trip to NY, and the history of Irish immigrants. Evidently, this text is far more complex and rich in themes and interpretive categories.

Thousands are Sailing

The island it is silent now But the ghosts still haunt the waves And the torch lights up a famished man Who fortune could not save Did you work upon the railroad? Did you rid the streets of crime? Were your dollars from the white house? Were they from the five and dime? Did the old songs taunt or cheer you? And did they still make you cry? Did you count the months and years Or did your teardrops quickly dry? Ah, no, says he, 'twas not to be On a coffin ship I came here And I never even got so far That they could change my name Thousands are sailing Across the western ocean To a land of opportunity That some of them will never see Fortune prevailing Across the western ocean Their bellies full Their spirits free
1 On the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy, for example, Mamma mia dammi cento lire was presented at Sanremo, in rock arrangement http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=TUT4E3XDgfA

Agnese Vardanega

July 5th 2011

They'll break the chains of poverty And they'll dance In Manhattan's desert twilight In the death of afternoon We stepped hand in hand on Broadway Like the first man on the moon And "the blackbird" broke the silence As you whistled it so sweet And in Brendan Behan's1 footsteps I danced up and down the street Then we said goodnight to Broadway Giving it our best regards Tipped our hats to mister Cohen Dear old Times Square's favorite bard Then we raised a glass to JFK And a dozen more besides When I got back to my empty room I suppose I must have cried Thousands are sailing Again across the ocean Where the hand of opportunity Draws tickets in a lottery Postcards we're mailing Of sky-blue skies and oceans From rooms the daylight never sees Where lights don't glow on Christmas trees But we dance to the music And we dance Thousands are sailing Across the western ocean Where the hand of opportunity Draws tickets in a lottery Where e'er we go, we celebrate The land that makes us refugees From fear of priests with empty plates From guilt and weeping effigies And we dance

listen to the song on YouTube (with lyrics)

1 Irish poet and novelist with drinking problems that led to his death (he defined himself a drinker with writ ing problems), an Irish Republican and volunteer in the IRA. Which footsteps does the protagonist refer to?

Agnese Vardanega

July 5th 2011

ITS YOUR TURN

Find a song, a poem, a fairy-tale or a brief text involving migration and your country (in the language you prefer, of course) analyse it, and tell us about it.

Guiding questions for the analysis

1. What is the story? 2. What are the theme/s? 3. Who is the subject, and who/what is the object? 4. What are the main social actors represented (as actants: competitors/opponents, helpers), and what social sphere do they inhabit?

5. Which roles do they play, in general and within their social sphere? 6. Are there any other actants? 7. What kind of human experience is represented? What is the moral of the tale? 8. (depending on the object of the study)

Agnese Vardanega

July 5th 2011

References Berger, P. L. and T. Luckmann (1969). The social construction of reality: a treatise in the sociology of knowledge. 1991. Penguin Books. (Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=TQJgQgAACAAJ ) Dubet, F. (1994). Sociologie de l'exprience. ditions du Seuil (Google Books: http://books.google.nl/books?id=QG1hQgAACAAJ). Thomas, W. I., F. Znaniecki, and E. Zaretsky (1918-20). The Polish peasant in Europe and America: a classic work in immigration history. University of Illinois Press. 1996. (Google Books http://books.google.nl/books?id=HOLITuv6UvkC) Webster, L. and P. Mertova (2007). Using narrative inquiry as a research method: an introduction to using critical event narrative analysis in research on learning and teaching. Routledge. (Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=MAP7gzk5x_IC)

Other links Anonymous Mamma mia dammi cento lire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh2hfU5rl24 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUT4E3XDgfA Hbert Louis, The Actantial Model http://www.signosemio.com/greimas/actantial-model.asp The Pogues Thousands are Sailing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27iJsZpQn3A Wikipedia Actant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actant Wikipedia - Vladimir Propp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp Wikipedia - Wilhelm Dilthey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Dilthey Works of George Lakoff (google books): http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=george+lakoff

Agnese Vardanega

July 5th 2011