Entries into Meaning
Entries into Meaning
Socialization via Narrative in the Early Years
This chapter approaches early socialization through the prism of narrative practices. Because socialization is an inherently interdisciplinary problem, the discussion is grounded in interdisciplinary fields of inquiry, interweaving their histories with a program of comparative research, spanning three decades. The research involved two working-class communities in the United States and middle-class communities in Chicago and Taipei. In each case, it found that the universal predisposition to narrative takes root and burgeons very early as youngsters step into local discursive practices that are culturally differentiated from the beginning. Placing personal storytelling front and center opens a window on how socialization happens on the ground and exposes a dynamic early moment in the co-creation of persons and cultures. The chapter argues that these vital processes depend as much on young children's agency as they do on the systematic socializing efforts, witting and unwitting, of parents and other family members.
Keywords: narrative, socialization, young children, discursive practices, agency, interdisciplinary inquiry, cultural comparisons, narrative practices, early years, Chicago, Taipei
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