Maneuvering in Silence:Abortion Narratives and Reproductive Life Histories from the Faroe Islands

• Published in: Medical Anthropology
• Main Author: Hermannsdóttir, Turid
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Abortion stigma; Embodiment; Performed belonging; Reproductive citizenship; Split subjectivity; Faroe Islands
• Online Access: https://forskning.ruc.dk/da/publications/1a18d7b6-ad49-4b25-aabe-706de76e3764; https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2022.2115368; https://hdl.handle.net/1800/1a18d7b6-ad49-4b25-aabe-706de76e3764; https://rucforsk.ruc.dk/ws/files/82828063/01459740.2022.pdf

I explore what silence surrounding abortion means to women in their everyday lives and the composition of their selfhood. My analysis is based on one-year of ethnographic fieldwork consisting of 20 interviews with women from the Faroe Islands and participant observation. Building upon theoretical frameworks of belonging and subjectivity studies, I discuss women’s silent maneuverings from an understanding of freedom of choice and power as complex entities and expand on the dimensions of belonging and nonbelonging. I find that women’s silent maneuverings are a navigational strategy made in a quest for belonging, and propose the concept of performed belonging. I explore what silence surrounding abortion means to women in their everyday lives and the composition of their selfhood. My analysis is based on one-year of ethnographic fieldwork consisting of 20 interviews with women from the Faroe Islands and participant observation. Building upon theoretical frameworks of belonging and subjectivity studies, I discuss women’s silent maneuverings from an understanding of freedom of choice and power as complex entities and expand on the dimensions of belonging and nonbelonging. I find that women’s silent maneuverings are a navigational strategy made in a quest for belonging, and propose the concept of performed belonging.