Page 61 - White Lives The Interplay of 'Race', Class, and Gender in Everyday Life

54 Narrating the self
through encounters with others. Therefore, in various ways, Sally’s inter-
views provide rich material for examining how individuals may narrativise
the self and how these narratives can be classed, gendered and racialised.
However, Sally’s account was not typical of the interviews I undertook.
Many of the interviewees, I would argue for various reasons, did not provide
a narrative of the self in such a straightforward manner as Sally. In different
ways, other women did not have a story to tell. Marie-François Chanfrault-
Duchet points out that what she describes as ‘real’ narratives are rarely
produced. This is partly due to interviewers refusing to give up control of
the situation and allowing the narrator’s account free flow. But Chanfrault-
Duchet also notes that ‘some interviewees may be unable to present herself
(himself) as the subject and hero of a narrative aiming to communicate an
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experience laden with signification’ (Chanfrault-Duchet 1991: fn. 8). What
does it mean that a person is unable to present him- or herself as the subject
of a narrative? Clearly, this is not to say that individuals do not have a sub-
jectivity or even necessarily that they lack a position from which to speak.
In the following three examples, I suggest different reasons why narratives
were not produced in some interviews. In the first, the case of Madeleine, I
suggest that she found it difficult to occupy a single subject position that is
required, however momentarily, in order to present a coherent self. In the
second, Deborah, I argue that she had constructed herself as a subject who
was so normative that there was little sense in presenting, in the words of
Chanfrault-Duchet, ‘an experience laden with signification’. Finally, Rose-
mary appeared to be unable to construct herself as the active subject of a
narrative.

Where there is no story

Madeleine: ‘Where do I fit in?’
Madeleine appeared on the face of it to be very similar to Sally. She was of a
similar age, living relatively close to Sally and was also a single mother of a
mixed-race child. She was relaxed and articulate in the two extensive inter-
views she gave me and seemed happy to talk. Yet, the way she talked about
her life was very different. Most notably, her account lacked the narrative
thrust of Sally’s account. Whereas Sally produced a story that told of her
progressive development from one subject position to another, Madeleine
did not have such a coherent story to tell. When I asked her what had been
the significant turning points in her life, while she was able to name some,
they did not make much sense to her in terms of providing a narrative:
The key turning points in my life? [laughing], ah, right. Um key turning
points? Well, having a child is probably the biggest thing that’s ever hap-
pened to me and has changed my life really radically . . . and since I’ve
had her, I don’t think there were necessarily any key things since I’ve had