Sense of Place as a Learning Process: Examples from the Narratives of Bosnian Immigrants in Vermont

Abstract

This article applies social constructionist theorizing and narrative analysis to study senses of place expressed by a sample of Bosnian immigrants in Vermont. Sense of place is theorized as a complex of emergent meanings, made visible in stories about people's everyday experiences, and accessible through narrative analysis. Unlike thematic analyses that categorize types of place meanings and approaches that focus on individually ascribed meanings, we study how language is used functionally to construct senses of place. Analyzing narrative forms and linguistic styles, we identify three prominent learning stages through which individuals narrate their changing relationships with place. We examine the social and cultural contexts of narrated senses of place, and describe the types of linguistic strategies used in each learning stage. This research has implications for theorizing sense of place in leisure and outdoor recreation and for place-based resource management.

Keywords:

• immigrants
• linguistics
• narrative
• place learning
• sense of place

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Walter F. Kuentzel and Pablo S. Bose for their contributions to the Master's Thesis associated with this research project.