Overview

This collection presents diverse critical perspectives and discussion about the keeping or telling of children’s originstories as a part of contemporary mothering labor. The first two sections outline perspectives from mother authors about how they strategically craft complex origin stories for their child(ren), as well as how the telling and retelling of origin stories may be passed on as generational knowledge. The third section discusses mothering and origin stories from multiple perspectives: that of a father by adoption, of single mothers positioning stories of absent fathers, and a multi-perspective chapter that includes a mother by adoption, her adult child, and her child’s birthmother. Based within feminist scholarship with chapters written from the first person positionality of the authors, this anthology encourages dialogue about a mothering issue that is often unaddressed, in part due to remaining patriarchal expectations about what makes a family and/or a mother. This interdisciplinary work also embraces the complex and multi-actor worlds in which mothering takes place and includes both creative and scholarly works as well as illustrations that are included as a part of the mothers communicating origin stories.

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9781772582123

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Reviews

Mothers as Keepers of Origin Stories is a beautiful contribution to narrative scholarship on the complexities of mothering experiences. The authors take seriously the role of ?origin stories, ? whether inherited or crafted, as significant touchstones for making sense of one's life. The book artfully foregrounds meaningful and complex accounts of adoption, feminist foremothers, childbirth trauma, single mothering, and other nuances of family history in diverse contexts to consider how people make choices about the stories they tell, create, and pass on. Readers with layered origin stories will connect to and learn from these approaches, and teachers of narrative inquiry, family studies, and gender studies will find this a valuable text for their courses. -- Lucy E. Bailey, Ph.D. of Gender and Women's Studies Oklahoma State University An accessible, one-of-a-kind, well-theorized collection that uses autoethnography and narrative to explore concepts, meanings, and experiences of mothering; an ideal text for courses on gender, parenting, and family studies. --Tony Adams, Professor, Bradley University The issues uncovered in Kearney and Murray's Mothers as Keepers and Tellers of Origin Stories are significant, and reflect historical changes in how pregnancy, birth, and adoption are viewed -- changes that have evolved over my lifetime. I was comforted by how much the collection ?spoke? to me as a reader. I found myself, attempting to situate myself within the collection, as I imagined writing my own origin story, and those belonging to my children, and grandchildren. I found solace in reflecting on my personal family history ? my origins, my upbringing, my relationships, MY STORIES ? many of which I hadn't thought of in years. This is a pivotal contribution; one that has the potential to evoke empathy, and advance knowledge of the human condition. -- Cindy Peternelj-Taylor, Professor of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Forensic Nursing

Author Information

Kerri Kearney, M.B.A., Ed.D., is an Associate Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at Oklahoma State University with a research focus on invisible college students, including former foster youth. Through this book and other work, she explores diverse life experiences that influence the college experience and student success. Lee Murray, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan and a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) in adolescent mental health. Lee also uses auto ethnography as methodology to explore the normative discourse of mothering in the context of her own experiences as a mom and grandma.

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