Evaluation, identities and gender

analysis of domestic violence narratives in an interaction among women

Abstract

This research investigates the relationship between the evaluative uses of language and the (re)constructions of gender identities from the analysis of oral narratives about domestic violence, suffered by women in their family contexts, reported in an academic interaction. Grounded on the area of Contemporary Applied Linguistics, the theoretical and methodological framework followed a critical stance and the research analyzes how participants structure, negotiate and (re)construct their identities along the narratives, observing how they cope with gender issues, ideologically imposed by the society. Hence, to reach the above objectives, we propose an interface between the perspective of gender as a performative act, performed through the use of language, with the interactional approach of narrative and the socio-constructionist view of identities. The qualitative methodology oriented the analysis of the narrative practice, which was centered on the evaluative elements that constituted the narrative discourse. Results suggest that both gender and identities are products of local performances of sociohistorical individuals, situated in several discursive activities.