Sunderland, Jane (2000) Baby entertainer, bumbling assistant and line manager: discourses of fatherhood in parentcraft texts. Discourse and Society, 11 (2). pp. 249-274. ISSN 0957-9265
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
In this paper I report on an investigation of discoursal asymmetry in parentcraft texts, in terms of the ways in which the father is represented and backgrounded. In particular, I suggest that it is possible to see one dominant, overarching discourse: `Part-time father/mother as main parent'. This dominant discourse can be seen as being `shored up' (as well as, to an extent, challenged) by other, usually complementary, discourses: `father as baby entertainer', `father as mother's bumbling assistant', `father as line manager', `mother as manager of the father's role in childcare', and `mother as wife/partner'. These discourses are characterized by recurring and non-recurring linguistic presences - and, importantly, absences (Van Leeuwen, 1995, 1996). Looking in particular at the following linguistic items from three different semantic fields - mother/father/wife/husband/partner; play/fun/help; and share - I illustrate how different discourses, with their salient linguistic presences and absences, can organize a text in supporting and potentially destabilizing ways.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Journal or Publication Title: | Discourse and Society |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | discourses • fatherhood • gender • textual organization |
| Subjects: | ?? DISCOURSES • FATHERHOOD • GENDER • TEXTUAL ORGANIZATION ?? |
| Departments: | Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences > Linguistics & English Language |
| ID Code: | 1443 |
| Deposited By: | Dr Jane Sunderland |
| Deposited On: | 11 Feb 2008 16:07 |
| Refereed?: | Yes |
| Published?: | Published |
| Last Modified: | 07 Feb 2012 01:28 |
| Identification Number: | 10.1177/0957926500011002006 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/1443 |
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