Sociological Theories In Annie Ernaux A Man's Place

Introduction: This memoire written by Annie Ernaux is a conceptualization of class struggle and the roles of different actors within a family and society. It focuses on the death of Ernaux’s Father, and thusly how his life was constructed through societal norms and how the people around him acted in accordance with those norms. As an uneducated man who raises a daughter that escapes her social binding, the contrast between class structure, labour ideals and gender roles are prevalent throughout this memoire.
This novel can be conceptualized as an exemplary text that describes the challenges and characteristics of society from the early 1900’s to modern day, focusing on the development of economic structure and roles that actors play. This paper will focus on how different sociological theories can be identified and understood through examples in Ernaux’s novel, A Man’s Place.

Development:

Structural/ Functional: social roles within the community It is suggested by Ernaux’s Mother that her Father wear the suit he wore to Ernaux’s wedding on his death bed (Ernaux, 1992, p. 15). The suit is appropriate for both the role of a Father giving away his daughter as a bride …show more content…
45).Through Robert Merton’s perspective of this theory we can view the manifest and latent functions of this role within their community (Gueye, 2015). The manifest function of this safe place within the community allows for the drunks to be removed from the other sober people in the town, removing conflict from other parts of the town. The latent function of the “temple of freedom” allows for these people to forget their other problems and allow for brief moments where they can forget what had put them in this position. Ernaux’s Father’s café provides a literal safe place for people of the town and a mental break from the negativity around