Food and Families in the Archives: Methodological reflections on using narrative archival data to study food and families in hard times Dr Abigail Knight Novella Conference, July 7 th 2014, Oxford. In association with the University of Sussex

2 Overview of presentation Background – What is narrative archival research? Why use narrative archival sources to study food and family life? The Study : NOVELLA – ‘Food and families in hard times’ - Research Questions - Methods - Analysis of three datasets: 1) Mass Observation Archive – diaries from ) Oral History – childhood memories of food and family life 3) Visual Sources – food shortages and rationing in post-war Britain Data: examples and substantive points Methodological reflections – key points

3 What is narrative archival research? Qualitative material from archives that tells stories about people’s lives Examples: diaries, letters, photographs, film, documentaries, oral histories and ephemera, such as pamphlets and post cards A form of ethnographic fieldwork or indirect observation: ‘fieldwork in the archives’ (Brettell, 1998).

4 Why use narrative archival sources? Researching food practices is challenging Narrative archival sources one possible method Importance of historical approach in sociology Charles Wright Mills (1959) The Sociological Imagination

5 Research Questions To advance knowledge about how to research the ‘disconnect’ between behaviour and constructed meanings in habitual food practices; What archival material is available for the analysis of family food practices? Which methods have been used in the analysis of archival data and how can these be developed? How do cultural and/or historical distance and proximity affect the interpretation of these data? How can we contextualise and integrate these analyses with other data? What stories are we able to find and construct about family food practices?

6 Methods: Analysis of three datasets Mass Observation Archive (University of Sussex) - analysis of six diaries from Oral Histories - analysis of 35 oral histories, born from two community archives: Ambleside (Lake District) and Waltham Forest (North East London) Visual Sources - photographs of post-war Britain (Imperial War Museum) - cookery and recipe books (British Library)

7 Mass Observation Archive: diaries from 1950 Analysis of six diaries (4 women, 2 men) Case Studies: Mrs Upton and Miss Allen Themes: -Embeddedness of food practices in everyday life -Rationing, shortages, queuing, growing food, ‘making do’, simplicity - Social aspects of shopping - Food and temporality of women’s lives

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10 Oral History – Ambleside (Lake District) and Waltham Forest (London) Analysis of 35 oral histories for childhood memories of early 20 th century, people born between 1899 and 1910 Themes -Greater children’s role -Self-sufficiency -Community reciprocity -Establishment of new practices Case Study: - Mrs Mary Birkett, born 1906 (Ambleside)

11 Visual sources

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13 Methodological Reflections Solicited/unsolicited accounts Missing data Use of local knowledge Performativity, humour and audience Keeping the narratives ‘intact’ Private and public representations of food practices Questions of temporality Researcher distance and contextualisation Greater visibility of food practices when times are hard

14 Acknowledgments Thanks to: The Trustees of the Mass Observation Archive for giving us permission to quote from the archives and staff for their assistance; The Ambleside Oral History Group and Waltham Forest Oral History Workshop The Imperial War Museum for the photographs; The British Library To my colleagues and co-researchers on Novella: Professor Julia Brannen and Dr Rebecca O’Connell.