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In this paper, we prefer to try to side-step the issue of the ultimate truth value
of the stories we heard. We could not claim definitive knowledge about the “love”
and marital experiences that A Wedding Story couples confidently depict. How
ever, we do feel on relatively solid ground in asserting that, in general, states of
affairs are fairly ambiguous and malleable, and that a large number of potentially
useful narratives can be told about any given situation. Consequently, we can con
sider the stories people tell about their marriages (as we do here) as interpretive
and interactive accomplishments rather than reality reports. That is the sense in
which we propose the above four themes.
For some qualitative scholars, the same themes we have outlined could be
considered factual reports of actual experiences (see Gubrium and Holstein’s 1997
discussion of “naturalist” qualitative methods). Instead, we see themes such as
“love as destiny” as interpretive formulas that individuals can draw upon in order
to create an intelligible sense of reality. The trick is to imagine what would happen
if the interactional context or overarching cultural setting within which A Wedding
Story is produced were to change in some way. What if the show were made in a
society where marriages are arranged, and where marital affection is seen as dan
gerous while (intergenerational) familial love is more valued? What if the inter
viewers were highly dismissive of “superstitious” pronouncements of their
interviewees, and thus challenged participants to re-think or re-phrase their asser
tions? Considering such possibilities (if only in one’s imagination) can help one
appreciate the nature of marital narratives as contingent social constructions—
constructions that reflect and perpetuate very “public” ways of understanding “pri
vate” experiences.
Saint Louis University
Kathym E. Kuhn and Scott R. Harris
Notes
1. Our analysis was informed by Deme (1994) and other sociologists’ work on American conceptions
of love and marriage (Swidler 1980).
2. See the website for A Wedding Story at: http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/weddingstory/getontv.html
Works Cited
Deme, S. 1994. “Structural Realities, Persistent Dilemmas, and the Construction of Emotional Paradigms:
Love in Three Cultures.” Pp. 281-308 in Social Perspectives on Emotionyedited by W.M. Wentworth
and J. Ryan.
Glock, C.Y. 1993. “American Assumptions About The Way the World Works.” Pp. 230-238 in The
Meaning o f Sociology: A Reader (4th edition), edited by J.M. Charon. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Gubrium, J.F. and J.A. Holstein. 1997. The New Language o f Qualitative Method. New York: Oxford
University Press
Swidler, A. 1980. “Love and Adulthood in American Culture.” Pp. 120-147 in Themes o f Work and
Love in Adulthood, edited by N. Smelser and E. Erikson. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.