Life Course Interview Synthesizes Personal

Life course interview synthesizes personal information with sociological theory. On its own, the interview is an interesting narrative. With the insight and analysis of social science, the life course interview becomes a piece of valuable qualitative research. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to apply theory to the life course interview. The goals of the analysis include answering the following questions. First, how do gender, ethnicity, and generation affect a person's worldview? Second, what elements from the person's upbringing illustrate sociological theories? Third, how has the person changed over time, and how have changing social values and norms affected that individual? Finally, what external influences have had the strongest impact on the individual? These research questions will be answered through this report, as I hypothesize a complex interaction between nature and nurture.

Method

The subject of the interview is my grandmother, who I will call Chan for the purposes of this paper and to respect her anonymity. My grandmother is 80 years old, and was born in Kunming, China. She had seven children including my mother, but two of her children have died. After my mother was born, Chan moved to the United States but my grandfather did not come with the family. He died about ten years ago. My grandmother currently lives with my uncle and his wife.

I asked my grandmother directly if I could interview her and she said yes. The interview took place over lunch and lasted 40 minutes. During this time, I asked her a wealth of questions about her childhood, her family background, her marriage, her worldviews, her hopes and dreams. I wrote down the questions beforehand, and the interview was organized. However, my grandmother's answers addressed several sociological issues at once. The interview was loosely organized into several parts as follows:

1. Family background including social class

2. Peer group relations

3. Marriage and gender roles

4. Parenting styles

5. Employment and leisure activities.

6. Best and worst life moments as well as psychological coping.

7. Advice and wisdom to give to children and future generations.

Results

Chan was born in 1929 and raised in Kunming, which is the capital of the Yunnan province of China. Her parents were merchants, and owned a fabric store in the city. They were not rich but they were not poor, either but their business did well. Chan's family is Han Chinese. Chan went to school, but like most girls her age she did not receive a secondary education. She worked in her father's store with her siblings, and that is where she met my grandfather. They eventually married because Chan's parents approved of the relationship. Although my grandmother said she "liked" my grandfather, most Chinese people at the time did not marry just because they are attracted to someone but because their family is happy with the union. The marriage was not necessarily arranged, just approved because both were from the same basic social class and Han Chinese background. Chan was friends with many other girls and boys her age from Kunming, and some were from different ethnic groups.

After the marriage Chan went to live with her new family. Women almost always move in with the husband's family. Chan continued to work at my parent's store, and as her parents grew older she and her siblings gradually took over the family business. When the Communists took over China, everything changed for Chan and her family. The authorities took over her store. Other businesses on the block were eradicated. Some families had already started to leave the country. They sent some of their life savings to relatives in Hong Kong and America.

This would become one of the most difficult and tumultuous times in Chan's life. It illustrates the strong impact that historical events have on individuals and families, shaping their lives forever. Chan's family business was gone, leaving Chan and her four siblings with significantly less hope for the future. How she coped during this time altered Chan's emotional makeup, as she claims becoming "stronger" because of it. Moreover, Chan was now living with her in-laws who shared different views about the communist takeover. This raised many issues related to her role in the family, her role as a female, and her role as a wife to my grandfather. Whereas Chan opposed the communist rule, her in-laws supported it due to some ties to the party. She had no choice at this time but to support her husband's decision. In her time, women do not have the final say in such matters; men do.

Chan confronted her husband, my grandfather, about leaving China for the United States or Canada. My grandfather was opposed, not because he didn't want to leave himself but because he did not want to leave his parents. At this time, Chan was pregnant with my eldest uncle. She had the baby, which solidified her ties to her in-laws. My mother was Chan's fifth child. Women were largely defined by their role as mothers, although Chan notes never feeling like she was "just a mother." She had a strong business sense and believed that one day she would re-open the fabric store. That day would never come. By the time my mother was born, Chan was deeply unhappy. Her mother-in-law had died, and her father-in-law was very ill. Chan told my grandfather that she was going to leave for the United States, where her sister was already living with her family. My grandfather told her to go without him, and he would take care of his father until he died. My eldest aunt stayed with my grandfather, but all the other siblings including my mother went to America with Chan. This represented a major step forward for Chan and showed the level of maturity in their marriage. Chan was able to make this decision, and although my grandfather was "not happy," as she put it, he let her go.

Los Angeles was very different from Kunming, and my grandmother had a difficult time adjusting and learning English. She flew back several times to see her husband, which is how she got pregnant two more times and had two more children. However, the last two of her children were born in the United States. By the time my youngest uncle was born, my grandfather and the rest of the family moved to Los Angeles. His father had passed away.

Chan has no regrets, and would advise young women to never be afraid to stand up to their husbands. Men have more social power, Chan suggested, but that does not mean that women do not have any rights. Men will respect women more if women act independently, think independently, and show their strength. Being financially independent is the most important thing a woman can do, Chan said. When she arrived in the United States she did not know any English but she got help within the Chinese community to start a laundry business. She learned everything as she went along and eventually sold the business at a profit. Her family helped Chan get through the tough times. Chan said that financial security is important, but only two things are more important: family and health. When my grandfather died, Chan was devastated. It was difficult for her to talk about her loss.

Conclusion

I learned a lot about my grandmother, and consequently myself, in this interview. The highlight of the interview was the part in which Chan describes the communist takeover of China and how that affected her personally as well as the entire community. Political events usually do not matter much in democratic countries like the United States, Chan suggested. The laws might change a little, but the structure remains the same. In China, the changes were structural. She lost many friends and families because they moved away or disappeared. The entire look and feel of Kunming was different because of the way factories were developed and houses were built. People had fewer options and opportunities.