ABSTRACT
Tracy (2002) intimated that talk does identity work, and identities work to shape talk. This assumption is fundamental to the discussion in this chapter For the
grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and granddaughters in Elkwood, discursive practices reflected who these women were as individuals and who they were in relation to the others with whom they interacted. Talk was the instrument through which interactants negotiated their maternal relationships. Different patterns of talk were reflected in the enmeshed relationships when compared with the connected maternal relationships.
