Western life courses challenged in life stories collected in contemporary China
Sheng-Li Cheng, Stina Johansson, Shushan Liu, Yun Li · 2023
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Description
Sheng-Li Cheng and three co-authors compare Chinese older adults' life stories with Western life course models in a 2023 study. Western accounts often show a steady lifeline with rare breaks. Chinese elders lived through war, famine, and upheaval packed into a few decades, which may bend that model.
The team held deep interviews with sixteen older adults using a standard question list. Analysis sorted the stories into themes. Early life held violence, loss, flight, and instability from two wars. Youth brought poverty and hunger during the famine years. The Cultural Revolution years cut ties and sorted people into categories. Education runs through the stories as a valued thread. The authors argue these lives challenge the smooth Western template.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Sheng-Li Cheng, Stina Johansson, Shushan Liu, Yun Li |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2023 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 56 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |