Paper short abstract:

The paper aims to discuss my post-doc project 'Boys will be boys' a narratological study of men's stories on boyhood., the aim of which is to do an analysis of qualia constructs (Herman 2009) in men?s biographical re-telling of their childhood

Paper long abstract:

Lately the notion of boyhood and masculinity have been elevated into public discourse worldwide. Issues of how boys ?become men? have been subject to documentary projects (The mask you Live in, 2015) and journalistic scrutiny. Through issues like ?gamer gate? and ?Wheaton?s law?, and the #meetoo twitter uprising the issue of ?boys become men?, have gained an acute relevance in the public eye. At the same time, the emphasis on male childhood narratives in research, have been on literary and media representations of boyhood, rather than biographical childhood narratives.

The paper aims to discuss my post-doc project ?Boys will be boys? ? a narratological study of men?s stories on boyhood, the aim of which is to do an analysis of qualia constructs (Herman 2009) in men?s biographical re-telling of their childhood. The concept of qualia is defined as ?the sense of what it?s like for someone or something to have a particular experience? (Herman 2009, 144). The paper will present the project aim and ponder ethnographic/folkloristic questionnaire and method. The core focus is on the issues of the questionnaire as a dialogue between researcher and informant, highlighting the seen and unforeseen issues in using questionnaires to establish researcher/informant exchange.