Биографичните изследвания като историческа социология: методологически разсъждения
Biographical Research as Historical Sociology: Methodological Reflections

Summary/Abstract: The article treats of the issue as to the general in the individual, specifically in the case of biographies. Referring to the early studies of the Chicago School, the author discusses the claim of sociological biographical studies that they consider the separate case not only in the social-historical context of lived experience but also in the different contexts in which that experience is thematized, including the interviewing situation. In addition to the narrative interview, which has become a classical instrument of biographical studies, the author insists on the use of additional sources. She high- lights the importance of the concept of discourse for reconstructing the contexts in which biographical experiences are spoken about, and clarifies why, when analyzing life narratives, it is necessary to reveal both the rules that were in effect in the past and those of the present, and the discourses experienced and shared at various moments and in various social-historical contexts. Taking the example of refugees from former Yugoslavia, the author demonstrates to what extent biographical reconstruction of a case discloses not only the specifics of one case but also the condition of the respective society, its emergence and change.

• Details
• Contents