My Wartime Self: Meaning Construction in Narratives of World War II

Authors

  • Julie B. Wiest West Chester University

Abstract

We are all storytellers. We tell stories in a variety of settings, to a variety of audiences, and for a variety of reasons. We tell structured stories about personal experiences—narratives—as a means of understanding the past, constructing identities, and communicating ourselves to others. Drawing on social psychological literature on narratives, identities, and autobiographical memories, this study examines the construction, recitation, and evaluation of 28 World War II veterans’ narratives. Findings indicate cultural influences in the ways these veterans constructed their war stories, the ways they constructed meanings about their war experiences, and the ways they constructed their identities in relation to those experiences.

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Published

2013-08-02

How to Cite

Wiest, J. B. (2013). My Wartime Self: Meaning Construction in Narratives of World War II. Narrative Works, 3(1). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/NW/article/view/21066

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2013)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright for articles published in Narrative Works is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to Narrative Works. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.