Narratives of Loss and Loyalty: Gang Membership and Societal Reintegration in El Salvador

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: In this thesis, I explore how an analysis of storytelling can reveal the way gang violence has impacted Salvadoran society and how being a gang member can impact one’s sense of self. I also attempt to provide an alternative version to the story told by the media and popular culture through explaining the often misunderstood root causes of gang violence in El Salvador. I analyze oral literature by looking at gang entry, experiences of gang life, and societal reintegration as different storytelling events. Essentially, I first look at a variety of ethnographic works to understand how storytelling can reveal particular aspects of a society and of an individual. I then use the frameworks of these ethnographic works to analyze books, journal articles, documentaries, and my own interviews with former gang members. Overall, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of how growing up in a culture of violence impacts a person and a nation as a whole, adding to a larger conversation regarding how one's surroundings affect their life, the stories they tell, and the well-being of a nation.

Author	Churchill, Kate
Thesis advisor	Barletta, Vincent

Subject	Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages
Subject	storytelling
Subject	gangs
Subject	El Salvador
Subject	violence
Subject	societal reintegration
Genre	Text
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/mq155vs2402

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY).

Preferred citation: Churchill, Kate and Barletta, Vincent . Narratives of Loss and Loyalty: Gang Membership and Societal Reintegration in El Salvador. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/mq155vs2402

Undergraduate Theses, Iberian and Latin American Cultures Department, Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, Stanford University.

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