Occupational memories: selected narratives of seven retired Newfoundland men

Lundrigan, Gary (2009) Occupational memories: selected narratives of seven retired Newfoundland men. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This thesis is about the vernacular use of occupational narratives by selected older Newfoundland men to define masculinity and culture within their specific trades and perhaps by extension within the general population of older men who live on the island portion of Newfoundland. It begins with an introduction to selected academic and popular ideas about masculinity, how it is created, developed, maintained, and defined specifically by older male Newfoundlanders who have decided to continue to live in Newfoundland. To create a context for the research I have included a survey of Newfoundland occupational and cultural masculinity as seen in selected books. The men that I interviewed are introduced with some family background and work history followed by a discussion of my informants' performance of masculinity during the interviews, applying a performance-centred theoretical analysis and placing the findings on an "Identity Ordeal Cycle." Culturally-specific occupational-language was important to my research so a discussion is included of the term "good man" as used in Newfoundland by older Newfoundland men, specifically my informants within their occupationally past, as it pertains to masculinity and dependability within the older sea-based male-dominated trades of Newfoundland.

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