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The merits of context: Unfolding mental vulnerability as category and experience.
- Source :
- Ethnography; Dec2022, Vol. 23 Issue 4, p496-515, 20p
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- 'Mentally vulnerable' young people are a strong focal point in public debate and policy in Denmark at present, and a variety of cultural activities are now being offered to them. Building on ethnographic fieldwork (April 2018-August 2019) with so-called mentally vulnerable young women (aged 18-36) who meet in literature reading groups, this article seeks to connect the reading group with the phenomenon of 'mental vulnerability', first through a review of the historical emergence and contemporary use of the term, and second by considering what (painful) experiences the term signifies for individuals belonging to this category. This contextualization involves a discussion of literature on the role of context in anthropological analyses. The article concludes with an empirical contradiction: the reading group provides a sanctuary from everyday demands for purposefulness and productivity, but it can also be used as a strategy for navigating such demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- YOUNG adults
GROUP reading
ANTHROPOLOGY
CULTURAL activities
YOUNG women
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14661381
- Volume :
- 23
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Ethnography
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 160110575
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1466138120940757