Outcast Children, 1940s to 1970s. Biographical Narratives from Austria

Description

The call encouraged contributions addressing “life narratives from below”, the life stories of abandoned children, street children and children in institutions seemed to be an adequate topic. Narrative interviews and interrogations, more than one hundred interviews with outcast children, who experienced their childhood during the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s or 1970s, primarily in Vienna and Upper Austria but as well in other parts of the country form the basis of this presentation. A few years ago the publication of two auto¬biographies of former inmates of foster homes provoked a public discussion in Austria. Later, several former inmates reported their experiences including massive cases of child abuse to the media, autobiographical books and other forms of autobiographical records as official publications or in the internet folloiwed. The self-presentation of the lives or parts of the lives of former foster children and other children in institutions were finally discussed. A comparison of the sources „narrative interviews“ and „written autobiographical records“ completes the lecture.

Period	01 Apr 2016
Event title	European Social Science History Conference 2016
Event type	Conference
Location	SpainShow on map