BOYHOOD AND FATHERHOOD - NARRATIVES ABOUT A FUTURE FAMILY-LIFE

In a project concerned with how adolescents construct their self-ident ities, a group of 13- to 14-year-old boys living in suburban and rural communities in Sweden wrote about a future family life and about them selves as fathers. The narratives are seen as reflecting the boys' way s of exploring a male identity through their main character. In the st ories analysed here the boys' writing connects to fellowship, equality and the transmitting of knowledge. The boys' taking on a fatherhood i n their narratives gives them access to possibilities that are not the irs in their capacity as child, but at the same time they retain their freedom in being a child. We can say that they combine the advantages of boyhood and fatherhood.