Overview
Our lives are full of disruptions, from the minor-a flat tire, an unexpected phone call-to the fateful-a diagnosis of infertility, an illness, the death of a loved one. In the first book to examine disruption in American life from a cultural rather than a psychological perspective, Gay Becker follows hundreds of people to find out what they do after something unexpected occurs. Starting with bodily distress, she shows how individuals recount experiences of disruption metaphorically, drawing on important cultural themes to help them reestablish order and continuity in their lives. Through vivid and poignant stories of people from different walks of life who experience different types of disruptions, Becker examines how people rework their ideas about themselves and their worlds, from the meaning of disruption to the meaning of life itself. Becker maintains that to understand disruption, we must also understand cultural definitions of normalcy. She questions what is normal for a family, for health, for womanhood and manhood, and for growing older. In the United States, where life is expected to be orderly and predictable, disruptions are particularly unsettling, she contends. And, while continuity in life is an illusion, it is an effective one because it organizes people's plans and expectations. Becker's phenomenological approach yields a rich, compelling, and entirely original narrative. Disrupted Lives acknowledges the central place of discontinuity in our existence at the same time as it breaks new ground in understanding the cultural dynamics that underpin life in the United States. FROM THE BOOK:""The doctor was blunt. He does not mince words. He did a [semen] analysis and he came back and said, 'This is devastatingly poor.' I didn't expect to hear that. It had never occurred to me. It was such a shock to my sense of self and to all these preconceptions of my manliness and virility and all of that. That was a very, very devastating moment and I was dumbfounded. . . . In that moment it totally changed the way that I thought of myself.""
Full Product Details
Author: Gay Becker
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Edition: Revised ed.
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.80cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.408kg
ISBN: 9780520209145
ISBN 10: 0520209141
Pages: 275
Publication Date: 01 September 1999
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
Disrupted Lives represents medical anthropology at its best. It is firmly grounded in empirical research involving qualitative anaysis of victims of various disruptions and disorders. At the same time it addresses a carefully formulated theoretical problem, which concerns the relationship between the body, metaphor, and personal identity. -- American Journal of Sociology
""""" Disrupted Lives represents medical anthropology at its best. It is firmly grounded in empirical research involving qualitative anaysis of victims of various disruptions and disorders. At the same time it addresses a carefully formulated theoretical problem, which concerns the relationship between the body, metaphor, and personal identity.""--""American Journal of Sociology"
Author Information
Gay Becker is Professor in Residence in Social and Behavioral Sciences and Medical Anthropology at the University of California, San Francisco. Her previous books include Growing Old in Silence (California, 1980) and Healing the Infertile Family (California paperback, 1997).
