Problems in Place: Using Discursive Social Psychology to Investigate the Meanings of Seasonal Homes

Abstract

Researchers continue to explore the nature of place meanings and especially how these meanings are created, disseminated and contested. This paper uses the conceptual framework of discursive social psychology to identify varying interpretive frames homeowners use to characterize the meaning and significance of their seasonal homes as vacation and recreation residences. Among the frames are refuge from modern life, the importance or centrality of seasonal homes in people's lives, obligations and burdens entailed by maintaining dual residences and interactions within a community. The paper advocates for an approach to place meaning that acknowledges the social basis of meaning yet recognizes and focuses on how individuals appropriate and use interpretive frames to explain their relationships to place.

Keywords:

• discourse
• discursive social psychology
• interpretive repertoires
• place meanings
• seasonal homes
• sense of place

This research was funded by the North Central Forest Experiment Station and Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute.