<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The focus of this paper concerns the meaning of breaking in the lives of young people living in Oslo, Norway. Meaning arises in the process of interaction with other people (social interaction) and self-reflection. The data are produced by the use of fieldwork (eight months) among young breakers at two sites in Oslo referred to as the Location, and included 17 separate semi-structured interviews. The interviewees were six females and 11 males, all of them breakers, aged between 15 and 30 years old. Seven of the interviewees belonged to different minority groups, while ten were ethnic Norwegians. The results show that through the interaction at the Location youth with diverse ethnic backgrounds experienced a strong sense of identification and belonging, not only to local breaking crews (groups) but also affiliation with breakers all over the world. The meaning of breaking was constructed around the feeling of freedom to “just be yourselves”. The breakers connected with themselves and their bodies, and experienced a sense of importance and respect. Consequently, the breakers also felt empowered in situations disconnected from the dance context.</p></abstract>

The focus of this paper concerns the meaning of breaking in the lives of young people living in Oslo, Norway. Meaning arises in the process of interaction with other people (social interaction) and self-reflection. The data are produced by the use of fieldwork (eight months) among young breakers at two sites in Oslo referred to as the Location, and included 17 separate semi-structured interviews. The interviewees were six females and 11 males, all of them breakers, aged between 15 and 30 years old. Seven of the interviewees belonged to different minority groups, while ten were ethnic Norwegians. The results show that through the interaction at the Location youth with diverse ethnic backgrounds experienced a strong sense of identification and belonging, not only to local breaking crews (groups) but also affiliation with breakers all over the world. The meaning of breaking was constructed around the feeling of freedom to “just be yourselves”. The breakers connected with themselves and their bodies, and experienced a sense of importance and respect. Consequently, the breakers also felt empowered in situations disconnected from the dance context.

The Construction of Meanings in Breaking: Insights from Breakers in Oslo

Nordic Journal of Dance

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"The Construction of Meanings in Breaking: Insights from Breakers in Oslo"}

The focus of this paper concerns the meaning of breaking in the lives of young people living in Oslo, Norway. Meaning arises in the process of interaction with...

The Construction of Meanings in Breaking: Insights from Breakers in Oslo

Published Online: Mar 22, 2021

Page range: 22 - 35

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/njd-2014-0008

© 2014 Tonje Fjogstad Langnes et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.