Studying Breastfeeding Discourse in Armenia: A Sociological Insight

Authors

  • Lilit Babayan Yerevan State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46991/BYSU:F/2023.14.2.107

Keywords:

breastfeeding, discourse, Armenia, soviet legacy, Western values, Michel Foucault, childrearing

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of the societal discourse in the construction of breastfeeding practices. It argues that societal discourse is crucial to the constitution of those practices, and that understanding the underlying circumstances of the breastfeeding situation anywhere in the world requires looking not only at the social reality itself but at the discourse that represents, reflects and constructs it. Proposing Armenia as a study case, the paper outlines the various sources of modern discursive practices around the feeding of children in Armenia, including pre-industrial customs, soviet political ideology, and modern Western values. Doing so, it proposes a new approach to studying breastfeeding practices through the prism of various discursive influences.

Author Biography

Lilit Babayan, Yerevan State University

M.A. Sociology, Junior researcher and lecturer, Faculty of Sociology, Yerevan State University

References

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Published

2023-12-25

How to Cite

Babayan, L. (2023). Studying Breastfeeding Discourse in Armenia: A Sociological Insight. Journal of Sociology: Bulletin of Yerevan University, 14(2 (38), 107–117. https://doi.org/10.46991/BYSU:F/2023.14.2.107

Issue

Section

Sociology of Communications