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Talking different heterosexualities: the permissive, the normative and the moralistic perspective — evidence from Greek youth storytelling

UNIVERSITY OF PATRAS, GREECE, archakis{at}upatras.gr

Sofia Lampropoulou

LANCASTER UNIVERSITY, UK, s.lampropoulou{at}lancaster.ac.uk

The aim of this article is to investigate the construction of heterosexual identities in Greek youth talk. More specifically, we explore how Greek adolescents construct themselves as heterosexuals through storytelling. In terms of theoretical framework, our article follows a dynamic approach to identity construction. Our analysis focuses upon naturally occurring narratives produced by female and male informants. These narratives deal with incidents of the adolescents' everyday lives and are related to their perceptions towards sexual affairs. We consider storytelling as one of the forms of verbal behaviour that has proved to be significant for identity work, as it forms the means through which narrators display aspects of their identities. Taking into account the way our narrators construct their stories, in relation to the ethnographic observations we have collected concerning our informants, we propose a pattern of narrativization showing how they display their positioning towards the ethics of heteronormativity.

Key Words: communities of practice • desire • gender • heteronormativity • heterosexuality • identity construction • morality • narrative analysis • positioning

Discourse & Society, Vol. 20, No. 3, 307-326 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0957926509102400


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