ABSTRACT
Writing of the oral histories of men and women who migrated internally to Paris after the First World War, for example, Isobel Bertaux-Wiame describes how the men structured their identities through accounts of work whilst women talked of family and relationships. While the men put themselves at the centre of their accounts, as active and mobile individuals who had done certain things, the women’s stories were centred around other people and were concerned with relationships rather than actions. Just as the men tended to stress waged work and mobility in their construction of themselves as active and successful men, the women’s accounts tended to focus upon their roles as caring mothers and dutiful wives and daughters-in-law. Amongst the Bengali elders at the day centre, women have played a key role in maintaining links between places and allowing for successful migration strategies.
