Negotiating an agentive identity in a British lifestyle migration context: A narrative positioning analysis

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of agency and positioning in a context of British migration in the Ariège département of south‐west France. A narrative positioning framework is used to explore the relationship between local discursive positioning and broader social obligations, specifically by integrating data from an online forum for British residents with an interview carried out with two forum users. Although there is thematic coherence across the datasets, particularly in relation to the social obligation to be the ‘right kind’ of migrant, the two speakers in the joint interview represent their actions using conflicting approaches. The analysis of agentive positioning shows the strategic use of both agentive and inagentive language where the narrated actions did not align with those of the ‘right kind’ of migrant constructed by forum members. The study shows how attempts at positive self‐representation can reflect awareness of the ideological context but can nevertheless be interpreted in very different ways. The paper concludes that we should not restrict ourselves to seeking recurrent and stable patterns when exploring indexical links between micro contexts and wider social reality, particularly when the interactional context is overshadowed by a broader moral landscape.

Narratives and Self‐Reflective Process of Lifestyle Migrants: The Quest for the “Good Life”*

“…Another group is that of people whose life project is based on ecological and natural aspects, who long for a more natural life and therefore choose rural or remote locations for their migration (Benson 2011; Eimermann 2015; Kilinc 2014; Kilinç and King 2017; Persson 2019). It is, above all, an individualistic project that is carried out first and foremost to fulfill an ideal lifestyle and exercise the freedom to choose to migrate (Akerlund and Sandberg 2015; Eimermann 2015; Lawson 2017a). Korpela (2018) explores the mobility of families with young children who seek a better environment to raise children.…”