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A Gypsy’s Curse: the journey of an illustration

Emma Parfitt — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:06:49 +0000

A Gypsy’s Curse news … The pre-order is out! Thank you to O for the amazing cover. Here are some pictures that show our journey towards the final publication.

Creating A Gypsy’s Curse

After chatting about the book and going over the idea of having Mairead and Lachland in a boat on the cover. O began to draw and sent me this amazing preview.

Then she got out her paints and produced the first colour draft, well we made a few tweaks with Mairead’s dress, and this was the final colour.

Time to make it into a book cover!

Voila! Now you have to meet the artist cause she did such an amazing job.

Oeindrilla A Gypsy’s Curse Illustrator

This is O. Oeindrilla is a graphic designer and illustrator based out of India. Her style revolves around blending different media, integrating elements to create visually stunning compositions. Print media, Wes Anderson films and anything whimsical are some of her inspirations. You can find her on Instagram at oeindrilla.cmyk

She has the heart of an artist.

Here’s the final book info. for A Gypsy’s Curse

In a windswept Scottish village in 1815, a Romani storyteller faces a deadly curse and a hostile community. Can she save herself and her love from a genie’s wrath and the villagers’ hate?

Mairead has always longed for a home and a family. But when she marries Lachlan, a Scottish fisherman, she is met with suspicion and scorn by the people of Auchenmeall, who despise her Gypsy heritage and her stories. Her life becomes even more perilous when her husband pulls a bottle from the sea that contains a genie, who gives Mairead a year to choose her own death. As the genie’s curse looms over her, Mairead must also deal with accusations of witchcraft, betrayal, and murder, as well as the secrets and lies that threaten to tear her family apart.

A Gypsy’s Curse is a historical fiction novel with a twist of fairy tale and fantasy. It is inspired by the Scottish folktale The Fisherman and the Genie, and explores the themes of identity, prejudice, and destiny. If you enjoy stories of magic, romance, and mystery, you will love this book.

Emma won the silver medal in the Just Imagine Short Story Competition, for the Traveller’s Daughter (aka ‘casting a story to steal a husband’) an extract from this novel, during which local author Ethyl Smith said ‘it’s a tale full of whimsy and vivid description.’

Don’t miss this captivating and emotive story. Click the Read Now or Buy Now button to find out what happens to Mairead.

Reader recommendations:

‘I find your writing style rather unique and special, I’ve never really read anything like it. I also like the amount of vivid details you use since they helped me visualize your world. I really loved your world building and character-building skills, especially with Lisbeth and Abigail. This was a really good way to cover social issues such as women’s role in society. I think you try to cover slavery a little bit, but I’d like that to be touched on more. I commend you for making this seem like a realistic 1810s book with how society was back then.’
— Beta-reader @everything_writing Instagram

‘I like how you drew the fisherfolk village, it’s really vivid. I really like her voice. I like how she’s her own person, and that she’s not a pale imitation of a fantasied woman who only thinks about love and her man. […] ‘tis all the labels that bind women to roles and tiny boxes we want them to fit in. All the thing we have to go through, accept, and leave when we walk our path. Though none of them define us women, it’s the tools we have to navigate the world.’
— Beta-reader Jeanne ML, Goodreads

‘A re-imagining of the Scottish Folktale The Fisherman and the Genie is a remarkable achievement. Not only have you woven an intriguing story, but you’ve also told it in a “muddled up” language that rather than detracting from the narrative made it all the more authentic. Right from the beginning, I liked the voice and the feisty character of the protagonist was appealing.’
— Beta-reader Rod Raglin (author of The Rocker and the Bird Girl), Goodreads

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Two journal articles released about The Artists and Academics exhibition

Emma Parfitt — Sun, 07 May 2017 08:34:00 +0000

Well done to Alice and Eri for writing two seperate reflections about the Artists and Academics Exhibition (Nov 2016). I enjoyed reading both articles very much. Alice is an IAS fellow, History of Art, University of Warwick with specialisms in womanhood, representation, spirituality and modernity. Eri Tsukamoto is a Sociology PhD student, University of Warwick, researching online audience’s reactions to wildlife docu-soaps.

As the organiser of the exhibition I found it interesting to read two related articles, with such different perspectives. Eri’s article was a reflection on the value of researchers taking part in communicating their word through art, the process, the challenges and the enjoyment of the entire process. Definately worth a read for researchers trying to decide if they would like to take part in community exhibitions.

Alice discussed and proceeded through the exhibition with local artist, Holly Dawes. As the result the article was an unusual combination of artist and art historian viewpoints, also incorporating visitors thoughts about the day. I feel very humbled that people appeared to have enjoyed the exhibition, and look forward to the possibility of organising other events in the future.

The articles can be viewed (for free) by clicking on the links below.
Alice Eden

Eri Tsukamoto

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New book: Shattered Roses. “There are enough stories with male characters”

Emma Parfitt — Mon, 01 May 2017 14:53:00 +0000

My Beauty and the Beast retelling is available here

My most recent book has been four years in the making. It was at the start of my PhD in 2012 when I moved to Warwick University that I wrote a few pages about Rose (initially the central character of the book, who later became Lady). I had the idea of playing with a fragmented story to see if it would work. Sarah Moss (my mentor’s) first comments about the story in progress was that it was too fragmented to work. I could see that something was missing. Yet, I couldn’t give up the story. Something about it made me scribble a few more lines now and then, and ponder where to go with it.

I knew I needed a third character to pull the fragments together. In this way, the story could be fragmented, but it would also create a sense of order. Megan came into being. Though I took a long time to choose her name. She originally also had a brother. Then later I decided after a discussion with my friend Heidi that there are enough stories with male characters, and from a male perspective. This was to be a story about women told by women, so Megan’s brother became a sister but with all the same traits, because why not?

I choose the name Megan because it is Welsh, derived from Margaret, therefore definitely British, and means strong and capable. I wanted a capable young female character, one not overly emotional and more into her studies than boys. A bit different from everyone her own age, a bit like I felt growing up. As we moved around a lot I felt distant from most people my own age at the time. And another definition, pearl, comes from ancient Greek, acknowledged as the root of Margaret. Pearls and other precious stones often resurface often in fairy tales, I used the image of the pearl in another book Seascape. So, it seemed a good name if a little unsuited to Megan’s mixed cultural heritage. For I also wanted two main characters who were not the usual British White stereotype, with a mum and a dad and lashings of ginger beer. [except saying that I also value stories with male characteres, such as a comedy book about young male Vikings that I now can’t remember the name of, and numerous horror novels I practically survived on during adolescence].

It took a good couple of years before I pieced together Megan’s back story. Who she was, where her family came from… and as Megan’s home life emerged I realised there was also a mystery there. I didn’t know that there was until I read The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. Then I knew how to finish the book and got to work. Doing some research along the way.

And so perhaps it is a short novel for all the effort and time spent on the story and its characters. Sometimes you see a story takes time. It also won’t let you go until the final page when the character’s stories are told. This is Megan and Lady’s story, not mine. Hopefully I have also left the reader with a little ambiguity, for part of the fun of reading is filling in the blanks oneself sometimes. The pleasure found in writing isn’t for money, isn’t to be read or to get any recognition, it stems from the compulsion to create, and as Neil Gaiman once tweeted,

“The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.”

Book available here.

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Folktales & memory with author Katherine Langrish

Emma Parfitt — Fri, 27 Jan 2017 12:08:00 +0000

Do folktales contain memory?

Does the odyssey or Iliad contain history?

What is remembered and what is forgotten?

Over all the event was an interesting talk and Q&A session. These were some of the questions that arose during an interesting talk given by Katherine Langrish at the University of Warwick on the 25th of January 2017.

She began with a picture of Arthur’s stone, a grouping of stone described as being built by King Arthur, the place of his burial, or where one of his rivals was buried. We are after all a nation of storytellers where even the remotest stone emerging from the earth in Cornwall, becomes the bones of a long forgotten giant.

But what “truths” are present in these fragments of stories we call folklore?

Memory Langrish proposed is not just about the things our brain recites back to us but also contains a sense of who we are, our identity. Folklore then is a form of memory, and memory a form of folklore.

Personal tales

Family history

Anecdotes

Subject to time and altered memory stories are accidently forgotten, purposefully suppressed, or…. considered of value and remembered.

Langrish described how through our love of stories items like a golden cape described in the BBCs 100 Objects Series can take on a life of their own and seem historical when actually they are not.

The series can be found on iTunes.

Langrish wrote on her blog,

Isn’t it possible, then, that the sight of a young man being laid to rest in his shimmering golden cape so impressed and touched the onlookers, that for nearly four thousand years if a child said, ‘Mother, who’s buried in that hill?’ the answer was: ‘A boy all dressed in gold’?

Here you can read Katherine’s blog about the cape later found to be… let’s just say elaborated by the BBC series based on the evidence at hand that was later found to be misinformed.

Conversely, folktales can also be the memories of real times and events despite being a bit changed along the way, from person to person. But which ones and how can we verify them? And here is when we have to consider who is telling the story and why. This idea is central to critical literacy, looking at stories and asking such questions, particular whose voice is missing?

And by asking whose voice is missing and why we become better researchers.

I will end with the poem Missing Voices by Andy Fowler.

O, lonesome is the house, and dark,
Here languishing and lingering in deep thought,
past joy, past pain.

I can almost hear those
endearing voices, that I so miss.

No pain, no pain like that of the brain.
Fond phantoms linger here.

One true heart was left behind,
love beyond measure, musing their return.
Words rise out of the darkness.
But I am alone.

Dream ridden, cruel turn,
shakes this ample frame at eve.

Is that you I hear?

No, just a tender breeze.

Endless yearning,
the pressure is crushing my heart,
to suffer the pains of solitude.
Hurry, hurry back to me.

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Exhibition results: “Inspirational”, “fantastic”, “an unexpected delight”

Emma Parfitt — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 14:51:00 +0000

Exhibition results

To celebrate Coventry’s bid for the City of Culture (2021), Dr Emma Parfitt, IAS ECF Fellow, University of Warwick, and Fargo village created an exhibition in the centre of Coventry on the 26th November 2016. The exhibition involved 17 artists (from all mediums and crafts) and doctoral students at the University of Warwick. The artists created pieces based on research. This event was an exciting opportunity to bring members of the public, artists and academics together with the aim of bridging the divides between art-science and academia-community.

Who came?

226 people from Coventry came to the exhibition. Looking into the exhibition what struck me the most was how throughout the day there were always conversations going on. It was a lively, welcoming, social space, with kids, and perhaps I should say kids of all ages, engaging with the artists, researchers and the work that had been produced.

Feedback

Some comments about the collaborations for example were:

“Useful to see research next to images as can’t always understand one on its own”

“Prenatal depression piece really well integrated and informed each other – you can tell she really responded to the piece”

“I wouldn’t usually voluntarily engage with such serious subject matter, but in this space I am happy to for some reason”

“It was amazing to see the pieces take shape in the room that morning.”

About the art

Adam Steiner inspired by Italian migration research (Georgia Wall) created three colourful paintings incorporating tinned tomato wrappers and splashes of greens and reds reminiscent of the Italian flag. One of the pieces was donated to Warwick’s School of Sociology.

Clare Pentalow crafted paper based on Mohammed Sagir’s in physics on a certain kind of material which may mean in the future that we won’t have to charge mobile phones. A work which people described as “detailed close up, shifting in colour”. Here’s an angle taken with the exhibition reflected in the glass of art piece.

Dragons?

Alice Bignami Todd crafted miniature dragons and knights in Resin jewellery inspired by Alice Byrne’s research into historical perceptions of St George’s slaying of the dragons. To be available to buy on Etsy soon!

Andrea Mbarushimana personally connected with Catherine Ellis’s work on sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) painting a series of pictures using mixed media, incorporating eggs, the rolling movements of sleeping babies. Andrea was approached by someone at the University of Warwick interested in displaying her pictures at another event.

Two artists from arty folk collaborated with Rebecca Noble’s research on madness in eighteenth-century Mexico. To produce a stunning sculpture that dominated the centre of the exhibition and made one young boy remark, ‘I like the big thing, the way he pulled her hair.’

Stained glass

Stained glass artist Brian Dickinson created a glass window with three circles representing carbon dioxide in the middle, above a fluid mixture of blue and white glass, which showcased Robert Espley-Jones’ research in engineering well.

Ink

Diana Nour created fabulous detailed ink drawings of grief, and also brought along two large angelic pictures that made a statement in the room. The thoughtful outlines of figures captured stories about the grief process inspired by Deborah Bassett’s work which asks questions about social network sites where messages are created to leave behind for others after their deaths… will this human-computer interaction change the way we grieve?

Emily Honey drew a series of very popular pictures inspired by Didem Derya Ozdemir kaya’s research on the fine-dining experience, in other words show kitchens in Istanbul, Turkey. Where chefs are on display to the dinners. Her beautiful use of colour and the social aspect of dinning, blended well with her sense of humour.

Emma Harris crafted a beautiful sculpture out of clay and mixed-material, a mother, surrounded by paper butterflies symbolising the joys and pains of pregnant and new mothers. Based on Sarah English’s research on perinatal depression.

One of my favs

Eri Tsukamoto’s work on how audiences respond to animal documentaries inspired Frieda Van de Poll to fill a wall of innovative drawings incorporating paper cut outs of animals. Colourful, delightful, and emotional. This picture of a flamingo was my favourite.

More art

Harriet Rowles crafted one large canvas of two figures facing one another, the lower parts of their faces and voices obscured by a wave of water. This captured Dean Howes work on mindfulness.

Photographer Jean Evans took two very strong photographs reflecting dementia which effects men below 65. She took images of a man surrounded by other images of people perhaps representing the faces that he could no longer remember (this researcher was anonymous).

Jenny Egerton was a favourite of the young at heart. She crafted a little bedroom scene with references from many horror films such as Labyrinth and Coraline, amongst others. This was based on Catherine Lester’s research on children’s horror films.

Jewels

Libby Ward, a contemporary jewellery maker used a number of experimental methods to produce textured objects, like necklaces that could be stroked to symbolise Laura Tucker’s research into ex-military personnel and their relationships with companion and assistance animals.

Robert Trueman experimented with the idea of randomness from Elena Achtypi’s psychological research. He took a stunning series of close up water droplets, with interesting names like ‘lnto the Jaws of Death’.

Illustrator Robin Meader collaborated with Vikki Houlden, and her research on greenspaces in urban environments. His colourful and detailed design captured the quiet spaces amongst all the hustle and bustle of modern living.

Ruth Mary created a highly detailed lace necklace based on Rachel Morton’s research into metal ware in seventeenth and eighteen century England

Activities

There was also some free Yoga by Selina Welter, founder of the yummy movement, which incorporated actions like skiing and snowboarding with animals.

It was lovely to see people engaging with the exhibition. You know it’s been a good day when someone says, ‘It was an unexpected delight, thank you’.

Thank you for the 73 comments, and 299 votes for artist-academic collaborations, and the 226 people from Coventry, who came plus others from Leamington, Kenilworth, Rugby, Nuneaton, Redditch, Birmingham, Chilli, London, Sweden, Sunderland, Strathclyde, Leicester. It was lovely to see people so engaged with the exhibition. This event was sponsored by the generosity of Warwick Alumni, the Institute of Advanced Study and Sociology at the University of Warwick. Thank you to everyone for their support.

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How the gypsies got their music: the future of storytelling research

Emma Parfitt — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 12:53:00 +0000

Warwick University is holding its first storytelling conference aimed at storytellers, arts practitioners, and researchers.

Photo by Alden Chadwick (Flickr, http://bit.ly/2aBeD8k)

When? 28^thNovember 2016, 12.00 noon – 17.15 pm

Where? Warwick University, Main library, Coventry

What do we want the future of storytelling research to be? This conference considers current work that is being done in the broad field of storytelling. The aim is to engage people to thinking different avenues that future research in storytelling could take. We will cover a number of different topics involving inclusive research with people with learning difficulties, applied storytelling and drama with the Belgrade Theatre, and how to consider the role of the storyteller in research. In line with our creative theme there will be a live/recorded performance of How the Gypsies got their music (by Cornish storyteller Mike O’Connor), and a poetry writing workshop.

For information please email e.l.parfitt@warwick.ac.uk

Keynote speakers

Nicola Grove (University of Kent and storytelling charity openstorytellers) will be presenting a talk on Interdisiplinary narrative research that considers the relationship between storytelling and “small stories” with particular reference to the work of Dell Hymes, an ethnographer who studied the links between the telling of legends and everyday anecdote. And the importance of “small stories” to people with learning difficulties. Nicola’s talk will include a brief exercise that she uses with people with profound disabilities to include them in storytelling.

Catherine Heinemeyer (York St John University and York Theatre Royal) will provide examples from her storytelling practice to illustrate that we need to resist the urge to pin down, close off, or over-simplify the meanings given to us by participants in our research, and be prepared to be attentive to what occurs in the storytelling exchange itself. Rather than yielding data as to the benefits of storytelling, they may provide eloquent answers that may ‘help us navigate through our rapidly changing and liquid lives’ (Mike Wilson 2014). Further, working within story may help young people to name and understand the forces shaping their society, and facilitate dialogue and advocacy between generations whose experience is radically different.

A little time is set aside to explore our creative side on the day through a crafting a poem workshop (by Emma Parfitt and Catherine Heinemeyer). Inspired by your favourite folk and fairy tales Cath and I will be inviting everyone to complete a little preparatory task to be completed on the day through a free writing excercise. We would love you to share your poems with us, but this is not required as Cath and I will bring our poems to share if no one is brave enough.

This conference has been organised by Emma Parfitt, IAS Fellowship, Sociology, Warwick University with funding from the Institute of Advanced Study. Emma Parfitt(University of Warwick, Belgrade Theatre) will present some preliminary findings about current research with the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. The research study involves interviewing previous participants of the Belgrade Theatre’s ‘acting out’ programme which aimed to encourage participation in the arts. The interviews will assess participants’ subsequent engagement with the arts and further education. This research is being funded by an IATL Strategic Grant from Warwick University.

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Professor Jack Zipes’ visit to Warwick University (June 2016)

Emma Parfitt — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 15:37:00 +0000

Professor Jack Zipes, University of Minnesota, a world expert on fairy tales and storytelling, came to Warwick and participated in a number of events with academics and members of the public. The event was funded by a collaboration of resources at Warwick brought together by Emma Parfitt an IAS Early Careers Fellow: an IAS residential fellowship, the support of the Humanities Research Centre and the Departments of Sociology and English & Comparative Literary Studies.

Here is a short description of the fantastic events that were organised during his stay.

Panel discussion at Loughborough University

A panel discussion occurred entitled: storytelling and young people. The panel was introduced by Dr Sally Maynard and consisted of Professor Jack Zipes (University of Minnesota), Professor Mike Wilson (Loughborough) and Emma Parfitt (Warwick).

At a time of great public debate about the future of education, be that emphasis on testing of young people with a focus on the ‘rules’ of grammar, the forced academisation of all schools, or the increasing levels of mental illness and illness among young people, the panel will discuss the role of storytelling in education and whether it serves as a civilising force or an opportunity for children to realise their creative potential and determine their own futures (Mike Wilson, University of Loughborough)

‘Ask Zipes about publishing!’ A PhD workshop

A training event for postdoctoral students about publishing proposals. Those attending asked questions about interdisciplinary publishing, turning a thesis into a book and translations. The discussion was recorded to be used in a Critical Reflections essay for the IAS journal Exchanges.

French documentary Film

Priscilla Pizzato, a french documentary maker from Paris, contacted me about arranging to film Jack Zipes for a documentary about Cinderella for the French-German channel Arte.. Zipes underwent an interview with the film crew at the beautiful Cryfield Farmhouse, Leighfield Road.

Campus talk & wine reception

‘Childism and the Grimms’ Fairy Tales, or How We Have Happily Rationalized Child Abuse through Storytelling.’

Professor Jack Zipes, Emeritus at Minnesota University giving his talk in Ramphal on the Grimms’ fairy tales.

A discussion of the way in which fairy tales reflect conditions, ideas, tastes, and values of the societies in which they were created. Technology is changing the role of storytelling in society. Whether or not oral storytelling lasts, is it important to be aware of who is controlling television, and the social media. Would we be better off if more and more people controlled the mass media instead of corporate conglomerates?

Widening participation workshops and debate (Coventry City Council, Earl Street, CV1 5RR)

A storytelling workshop with local young people followed by a discussion of this storytelling method. Professor Jack Zipes led a two hour storytelling workshop with 35 young people aged seven to eleven years of age from the following local primary schools: Pearl Hide, Grange Farm, Hearsall Community Primary, John Gulson, and All Saints Church of England.

Permission was refused from Sheila Bates, the Children’s Champion for Coventry, to record the event to be utilised as additional research materials for a collabourative paper. However I negotiated the presence of four observers. And a consent form by the Council was taken from each parent to allow me to take photos of the event.

Attendance: Young people 22, 1 Coventry council staff, 2 academic staff (Warwick and Manchester) and 1 PhD student (Warwick)

A father talked to Professor Zipes and Emma Parfitt, and Sheila Bates, Children’s Champion, after the workshop and asked that the storytelling and drama workshop be part of a regular event allowing more children to attend especially those who needed help with writing skills.

Professor Jack Zipes asking young people at Coventry Council questions about fairy tales

Young people from schools in Coventry acting out their version of Polly and the Wolf, an alternative Little Red Riding Hood Story. Here two wolves approach two Polly’s (in red and blue) with her family in the car.

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IATL Strategic Grant

Emma Parfitt — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 22:00:00 +0000

I have been awarded a grant for a project with the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry to begin on completion of my doctorate. This is a highly competative staff fund, for large-scale projects which support the university’s teaching and learning strategy. I obtained this grant with the support of Cath Lambert.

The title of the project is:

A retrospective study to ascertain the pedagogic benefits of research-led teaching

‘Bearing witness to marginalised groups’

My research interest

The Belgrade Theatre’s ‘bearing witness to marginalised groups’ programme aims to work with young people from diverse backgrounds. Each group works closely with a trained dramaturge (a crafter of stories for the stage), sharing and shaping experiences into dramatic form. This offers young people an opportunity to reflect, share, rethink, and transform their stories. As post-war Coventry was rebuilt so was a theatre for the community (the Belgrade). The Council Statute stated that the theatre was obliged to build links between drama and young people. 50 years later, the Belgrade has continued to work with groups of young people, from primary to secondary school age, in the theatre, in the community, and in schools in Coventry. The theatre’s 14 regular groups meet weekly during term-time, and in addition there are holiday camps and summer schools. Our project is a retrospective study with previous participants of the ‘bearing witness’ programme.

From IATL’s perspective

This project is an exciting opportunity to assess Warwick undergraduates through a research-led teaching experience. I therefore proposed that the study would hire two undergraduates to receive paid research experience and training to improve their employability. The students’ progress will be supported and assessed by the research assistant throughout the study in order to inform the aims and objectives of a research-led teaching module.

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The hills are alive…

Emma Parfitt — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 11:52:00 +0000

The International Sociological Association have accepted my abstract to speak in Vienna this July. Yay! I won’t be wearing a dress made from curtains but this is what the presentation will be on, perhaps I’ll see you there.

Photo ‘Vienna’ by Osamu Kaneko (http://bit.ly/1OuQFXF)

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

A Managed Heart in relation to storytelling: how education policy shapes young people’s perceptions of emotion.

Literature searches indicate that Hochschild’s theories of emotion have not been linked to oral storytelling in an educational setting. In A Managed Heart Hochschild researched how flight attendants at Delta Airlines managed emotion. Hochschild proposed that people were trained to manage emotion in the workplace. This paper explores Hochschild’s theories in the context of educational policy and oral storytelling.

A storytelling space was created in three schools in the UK, Warwickshire, in 2013. Analysis involved NVivo coding of storytelling and focus group sessions one hour long, over five subsequent weeks, with young people from 12-14 years. In total, there were six groups of four children, of mixed ethnicity, ability, and socio-economic background. The students’ conversations were recorded and transcribed for empirical analysis.

The findings suggest that English literature guidelines, set by the Department for Education, influenced the students’ interpretations of emotion. There were significant similarities between educational guidelines and the way students discussed oral storytelling. For instance, the students connected character motivation to emotion reflective of an educational approach (a standardised way to interpret classroom texts such as Romeo and Juliet). The students identified a character’s emotional ‘motivation’ and linked this to ‘actions or events’ in a causative way. Through Hochschild’s work parallels can be drawn between ‘how society uses feeling’ (2003, 17) and how individuals might be educated to use feeling through Governmental policies like the National Curriculum.

The analysis indicates that oral storytelling is a useful method for exploring the theories of Hochschild in a social context. If education influences the students’ analysis of texts, and the analysis of oral storytelling, similar aspects of interpreting behaviour and emotions might arise in other situations in the students’ lives. In this way education might have structural influence over students’ emotional connections, and potentially, the negotiation of social relationships with others.

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