文章基本信息

标题："The Real Deal": Managing Intimacy Within Friendship at a Distance
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作者：Verónica Policarpo
期刊名称：Qualitative Sociology Review
印刷版ISSN：1733-8077
电子版ISSN：1733-8077
出版年度：2016
卷号：XII
期号：2
出版社：Lodz University
摘要：How is intimacy constructed between friends who live apart, at a long distance. Family studies have paid considerable attention to the (re)negot iation processes of personal and intimate bonds wit hin transnation- al families. However, less attention has been paid to the ways in which t hese struct ural constraints affect intimate relationships between friends. As significant members of the personal networks of individuals, friends have a support ive role that, in t he cont inuum of other personal relat ionships (family, co-workers, nei ghbors, acqu ai nta nces), i s cha ll enged by the i ncreasi ng mobi lit y that c haracteri zes c ontemporary gl ob - al post-industrial societ ies. While a significant amount of literature has underlined the negative impact of geographical distance in friendships, other st udies have suggested otherwise, st ressing the renewed importance of friendship ties between geographically long- distant young adults. This paper explores long distance friendships (LDFs) focusing mainly on two dimensions: the meanings given to intimacy and the pract ices of f riendship at a distance. The main hypot hesis is that transformat ions of intimacy bet ween long-distant f riends are likely to be associated with reconfiguration of the meanings given to friendship, as well as to t he norms that regulate them. On the one hand, the erosion of f riendship is associated with the impossibility of keeping a face-to-face, co-present, accompa nying contact, which is part of the expect- ed normative role of friendship. On the other hand, its reconfiguration is mostly associated with those routines and rit uals that keep f riendship alive by permanently reenacting a sense of self identity and "ontological security" t hrough the "work of memory." The role of information and communicat ion tech- nologies (ICT) in fostering intimacy within an LDF is also explored, as these have considerably changed the ways we relate to geographical distance and, therefore, the norms t hat shape intimate relationships.
关键词：Intimacy; Fr iendship; Transnational Frie ndships; Long Distance Friendships; ICT