Narrative and Identity

In Sicilia, il romanzo storico incarna una parte consistente dell’identità e delle ideologie dominanti sin dall’Unità del 1861. Dopo la morte di Sciascia, l’avvio della fortuna di Camilleri e l’uscita del romanzo "La lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa" di Dacia Maraini, gli anni Novanta prestano la scena a numerosi ripensamenti, sospingono e incoraggiano una dislocazione della Sicilia storico-letteraria fissata in stereotipi e formule stantie.
Sopraggiunta la fine dei generi, sembra aprirsi anche per la letteratura siciliana la stagione del genere. Questo libro guarda al romanzo della Storia nel luogo Sicilia – meta fisica, mentale, simbolica – scrutando l’universo di alcune autrici capaci di lasciare segnali indelebili sul corpo di una scrittura in continua evoluzione, proprio a partire dagli anni Novanta. Attraverso analisi testuali e riflessioni teoriche, nascono ipotesi e domande. Cosa significa interrogarsi sulla condizione delle donne attraverso la scrittura? Si può davvero parlare di ‘differenza di genere’ per le narrazioni a firma femminile in Sicilia? Qual è il peso dell’orizzonte discorsivo radicatosi con la creazione (anche letteraria) di una regione ‘colonizzata’ dal Nord dopo l’unificazione? E poi, quale contributo offrono oggi queste scritture alla nostra percezione del genere storico?
Le storie e microstorie qui esaminate escono dal territorio sicuro della tradizione spostandone il baricentro, intridono la lingua di miti, dialetti e interferenze documentarie, dialogano con i fantasmi letterari dei padri, evocano umanità non convenzionali, ritrovano voci femminili e maschili perdute. Ma soprattutto rompono, consapevolmente o meno, l’ossatura culturale e ideologica di un certo immaginario potente, paradigmatico, consolatorio.

The dislocated, deterritorialized discourse produced by repatriates from formerly European colonies has remained overlooked in academic scholarship. One such group is the Eurasian “Indo” community that has its roots in the former Dutch East Indies, today’s Indonesia. This article focuses on Tjalie Robinson, the intellectual leader of this community from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. The son of a Dutch father and a British-Javanese mother, Robinson became the leading voice of the diasporic Indo community in the Netherlands and later also in the United States. His engagement resulted in the foundation of the Indo magazine Tong Tong and the annual Pasar Malam Besar, what was to become the world’s biggest Eurasian festival. Robinson played an essential role in the cultural awareness and self-pride of the eventually global Indo community through his elaboration of a hybrid and transnational identity concept. By placing his focus “tussen twee werelden” (in-between two worlds) and identifying “mixties-schap” (mestizaje) as the essential characteristic of Indo identity, Robinson anticipated debates on hybridity, transnationalism, and creolism that only much later would draw attention from scholars in the field of postcolonial studies. This article highlights Robinson’s pioneering role in framing a deterritorialized hybrid alternative to nationalist essentialism in the postcolonial era.

In this contribution I would like to elaborate on why the development of a narrative identity for elderly is so important, but also what they can do if they don’t succeed in having one. The narrative paradigm has enormous potentials in gerontology, but also meets some limitations. Often, older adults don’t succeed in articulating  their life story. The late modern necessity of identity construction continues, however, to put pressure on their lives. Sometimes minor or major depressions cannot be avoided. More common in later life is the experience of  the meaninglessness of life.  But many elderly seem to have found other ways of saving their endangered sense of self, though they hardly owe the narrative power necessary to develop a coherent and purposeful life story.

Il tema della libertà costituisce nel pensiero ricoeuriano un elemento sorgivo della sua riflessione, che progressivamente diventa un fiume carsico: un che di sommerso che tuttavia riemerge di tanto in tanto nella sua scrittura. Alla luce di questa idea il presente saggio intende sondare la presenza di un pensiero della libertà nell’ampio orizzonte dell’opera ricoeuriana, al fine di evidenziare alcune dinamiche proprie del pensatore francese nell’orizzonte di una riflessione sempre unitaria, anche se mai totalizzante. Il tema della libertà nella sua realizzazione personale diviene così il centro dell’argomentazione a partire dal quale si irradiano le tematiche più care a Ricoeur: dal tema del linguaggio e della metafora, a quello del tempo e della narrazione, fino a giungere alla dimensione etica, legata al tema della volontà e del male e da ultimo sfociante nella questione del riconoscimento, tra giustizia e amore. Il tentativo di questo lavoro è propriamente quello di ricercare nella dimensione della libertà quella tessitura profonda e costante che tiene insieme il vasto orizzonte delle ricerche ricoeuriane.

Suspendus aux lèvres d’un conteur, incapables d’interrompre la lecture d’un roman, captivés par un film haletant, nous faisons tous l’expérience quotidienne de ce plaisir apparemment paradoxal que nous tirons de notre insatisfaction provisoire face à un récit inachevé. Bien qu’une mode esthétique et théorique ait tenté de nous convaincre que ce plaisir était honteux, on peut néanmoins avoir l’intuition que le cœur vivant de la narrativité réside précisément dans ce nœud coulant, toujours plus serré à mesure que nous progressons dans l’histoire, qui nous attache à l’intrigue et creuse la temporalité par l’attente impatiente d’un dénouement. Si le récit a quelque chose à voir avec la manière dont nous éprouvons le temps, cette expérience n’apparaît jamais avec autant d’éclat que dans le suspense, la curiosité ou la surprise qui font la force des intrigues fictionnelles. La compréhension des fonctions narratives engage donc non seulement l’analyse littéraire, linguistique et sémiotique, mais aussi l’analyse cognitive et la psychologie des émotions.

It was developed the concept of personality self-construction in postnonclassycal paradigm and a model of self-realization optimizing. The expediency of future structuring in the form of futurological narrative was justified. Life-task structuring models were defined and ways of setting goals were analyzed. There were examined spheres of life which determined the ways of life-tasks setting, the diagnostic features of formed tasks, personal characteristics that influence to tasks formulation, criteria for viability, influencing to self-prediction; there were analyzed specific life-tasks of troubled youth and referents of effective-ineffective self-realization.

The unprecedented economic growth and immigration that Ireland experienced between 1995 and 2007 did not only challenge national but also ethnic, social, and gender identities. The contributions to this volume explore how films tackle these challenges and help to make sense of Ireland’s altered position in a globalised world. Among the films discussed are some of the most critically acclaimed Irish films of recent years, including Once (2006), Adam & Paul (2004), Garage (2007), and The Secret of Kells (2009), as well as the work of Oscar-winning director and writer Neil Jordan. The volume is completed by an extensive interview with award-winning director Lenny Abrahamson, and his collaborator, screenwriter and actor Mark O’Halloran.

Esta investigación aborda la co-composición narrativa de la identidad profesional de docentes de inglés en su formación inicial en la carrera de profesorado de inglés de una universidad nacional de Argentina. Las identificaciones de estos profesores en cierne se manifiestan en los relatos que co-escribieron con la autora en su carácter de investigadora participante. La metodología de investigación se inscribe en la indagación narrativa ya que presenta herramientas poderosas de recolección de variados textos de campo en diversos sitios de esta carrera universitaria. La indagación abarcó un total de veinticuatro estudiantes cuyas identidades se analizaron y validaron narrativamente en un lapso de veinte meses. Este sucinto trabajo expone las narrativas co-compuestas de cuatro participantes, que entraman una (futura) identidad docente cuyo devenir conceptualizamos como existiendo en tránsito. Luego de presentar los cuatro relatos, sugerimos implicancias que devela el transcurrir de identidades contingentes en el currículo de la formación inicial del profesorado.

This is a longitudinal study of the identity process through times of dramatic social change. Using a narrative psychological approach this research follows the life stories of five Egyptian bloggers as they write their stories on online blogs over the course of the three years following the 2011 revolution, at which time Egypt has witnessed major social and political changes. The aim is to understand the identity process of individuals as they develop and adapt through changing social contexts and how they create alternative social relations as they engage in prefigurative politics. The findings shed light on how ruptures trigger a process of reflexivity, adaptive learning, and sense-making that facilitates coping and the reconstruction of a positive identity after ruptures. It also suggests that the narration of the experience of rupture through storytelling creates a heightened sense of agency in individuals' ability to create new meanings of their world in spite of the socio-cultural and political constraints. This study presents narratives as an informing methodological resource that connects identity process with social representations and emphasizes the value of storytelling as an integral part of the adaptation process.

The short title of this work: Autobiography, Time, and Narrative in Philosophy and Psychology, expresses the principal topics discussed. The temporal dispersion of an individual's actions throughout life, makes their unification and stability in purpose challenging, as such temporal separation of human actions makes it difficult to view the effects and significance of particular acts, and their long-term impact. Fortunately, narrative self-understanding and autobiographical thinking in orienting the whole human life, resolves the challenge posed by temporal dispersion. In this work, Ogunyemi explores the relationship between the anthropological theories of the dynamics of temporality with narrative self-understanding that are developed from an Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy, and recent theories in psychology and neurosciences, through her reading and interpretation of contemporary authors. She presents scientific observations related to habit formation and self-improvements that are congruent with philosophy. MacIntyre as well as other philosophers often analyzed the validity of psychology's methods and frameworks and Ogunyemi contributes to this dialogue by pointing out similarities between autobiographical temporality seen in disparate fields. She explores concepts of narrative philosophy from the first-person perspective, and makes a synthesis of elements of autobiographical temporality which could form an anthro-pological framework for observations made from research in different subspecialties of contemporary psychology and neurosciences. Her interdisciplinary approach highlights prospects of mutual enrichment between different fields. The need for interdisciplinary studies, such as this one, is ever increasing and urgent since the development of particular sciences, that promote human flourishing today, requires a deeper understanding of the human being in his totality. Omowumi Ogunyemi obtained her first degree in medicine and surgery. She has worked as a medical practitioner in various hospitals in Nigeria including The Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Lagos, where she managed patients with substance induced disorders. She holds a licentiate degree and a doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome.

Winner of 2009 Outstanding Book Award, North American Society for the Sociology of Sport.

In parks and cafes, homes and stadium stands, Cubans talk baseball. I contend that when they are analyzing and debating plays, games, teams, and athletes, Cubans are exchanging ideas not just about baseball but also about Cuba and cubanidad, or what it means to be Cuban. I explore the interconnections between baseball and Cuban identity. Suggesting that baseball is in many ways an apt metaphor for cubanidad, I point out aspects of the sport that resonate with Cuban social and political life: the perpetual tension between risk and security, the interplay between individual style and collective regulation, and the risky journeys undertaken with the intention, but not the guarantee, of returning home.

Chapter One is available below

Il testo si interroga sulla nozione e sullo statuto del discorso letterario soprattutto in relazione alle nuove scritture che emergono sulla Rete. Più in generale il saggetto propone una visione allargata del campo letterario fino al punto di suggerire che si pratica più letteratura di quando si pratichi la non letteratura.

U radu se analiziraju procesi asimilacije i integracije na primjeru zadarskih Arbanasa. Arbanasi dolaze u Zadar i okolicu sredinom 18. stoljeća, iz okolice Skadarskog jezera i nekadašnje Turske Albanije. U empirijskom istraživanju 2014. godine u Zadru intervjuirano je 20 Arbanasa (12 žena i 8 muškaraca) u dobi od 38 do 87 godina. Arbanasi po dolasku u novu postojbinu u kontaktu s hrvatskom i talijanskom etničkom komponentom postupno gube povijesni etnički identitet, pa će uslijed manje brojčanosti u kontinuitetu biti podložni procesima asimilacije. Arbanasi se danas izjašnjavaju u velikoj većini kao Hrvati i tek nekolicina kao Talijani, pa se može o njima govoriti kao subnacionalnoj zajednici. U istraživanju (intervjui), Arbanasima su postavljana pitanja o dolasku njihovih predaka i sadržajima komunikacijskog sjećanja koji čuvaju ono što sami Arbanasi nazivaju duhom arbanaštva.

Kapitola se zabývá problematikou lidské identity, zejména pojetím identity jako životního příběhu. Shrnuje psychologické výzkumy, z nichž vyplývá, že rozumíme sami sobě, druhým lidem i světu prostřednictvím příběhů (zejména Bruner, McAdams, Lindeová), a propojuje je s naratologickými koncepty (např. vyprávějící vs. vyprávěné Já, nespolehlivý vypravěč, čtení fikčních myslí nebo master narativy). Text rozebírá také rozličné faktory, jež ovlivňují naše životní příběhy a tedy sebedefinici: nespolehlivost vzpomínek, vliv kultury, v níž žijeme, a jazyka, jímž mluvíme, jakožto i samotné vlastnosti narativu.

U različitim diskurzima govor o identitetu poprima različite konotacije. Na jednoj sasvim svakidašnjoj razini, koja se nerijetko izjednačava s medijskom, govor o identitetima odnosi se na socijalnu dimenziju, odnosno na onu dimenziju koja čovjeka vidljivim i vanjskim pokazateljima pozicionira unutar društvene mreže. Tako se može govoriti o etničkim, nacionalnim, rodnim i rasnim identitetima koji u svojoj mnogostrukosti izražavanja pružaju kolažnu sliku koju tzv. postmoderno društvo forsira i eksploatira. Takvi identiteti su društveno konstruirani i nazivaju se socijalnim identitetima. U svakodnevnim društveno - političkim raspravama najviše se raspravlja upravo o tom vidu identiteta, dok se osobni identitet kao apstraktni teorijski koncept ostavlja za teorijsko filozofijske analize. Ovaj rad se bavi načinom na koji se osobni identitet stvara, ragrađuje i ponovno uspostavlja unutar fikcionalnog djela. Riječ je o romanu Newyjorška trilogija američkog pisca Paula Austera, koji je kod nas prošao nezapaženo, neoprezno se svrstavajući na police knjižara pod područje krimića, pridonoseći korpusu tzv. lake književnosti. S druge strane, jasno je da bi bilo pretenciozno i pomalo pompozno Newyoršku trilogiju svrstati u područje tzv. teške književnosti , no namjera ovog rada je da pokaže neke u nas zanemarene dimenzije romana, a koje će se ponajviše ticati načina konstruiranja identiteta likova i autora; implikacijama takve konstrukcije na romanesknu strukturu te dvojničkom konstrukcijom likova.
Teorijski korpus na koji se ovaj rad naslanja i s kojim se dovodi u vezu obuhvaća raznorodne tradicije, povezujući Wittgensteinovu kasniju fazu s nekim aspektima dekonstrukcijske filozofije jezika, te pogledom na dvojništvo Renate Lachmann. Osnovna namjera rada je da se, uz pomoć poredbenog teorijskog uporišta, pokaže kako je osobni identitet u Newyjorškoj trilogiji diskurzivno utemeljen, odnosno kako je on produkt načina funkcioniranja jezika, što nudi mogućnost antiesencijalističkog utemeljenja osobnog identiteta, čime se izbjegava metafizičko utemeljenje identiteta u konačnom označitelju. Kada govorimo o antiesencijalističkom utemeljenju osobnog identiteta, valja napomenuti da se taj koncept odnosi na osobni identitet likova unutar fikcionalnog djela. Kako će se pokazati, osobni identitet likova, zbog svoje zamjenjivosti i fragmentarnosti na nivou narativa romana, ne sadrži neko čvrsto uporište u vidu stabilne biti, nekog konačnog označitelja koji mu propisuje esenciju i određuje njegovo značenje. Konkretnije, rad će se baviti načinom na koji su identiteti likova i autora konstruirani u Newyorškoj trilogiji, s posebnim osvrtom na dvojničku strukturu likova.
Newyorška trilogija sastoji se od triju kratkih romana – Stakleni grad, Duhovi, Zaključana soba -  naizgled nepovezanih, no nakon što se pročita posljednja stranica knjige, otvara se mogućnost gledanja na trilogiju kao na cjelinu sastavljenu od dijelova jedne te iste priče, s jednakim identitetnim strukturama likova.

This paper offers an introduction to 'multiforms' as associated systems of verbal elements that develop in the memory of an individual and are used in text production. It examines these in the highly conservative kalevalaic mythological poetry of Finns and Karelians, where such multiforms become are sufficiently conservative in social circulation that they can become referentially meaningful. This paper looks briefly at general variation in production, variation by dialect, variation by situation and also the meaningful application of kalevalaic epic multiforms in exceptional contexts to produce new meanings

This paper presents some of the same information in the Finnish language "Multiformit kalevalamittaisessa epiikassa" (2010), but it presents a more general introduction to the poetic system and does not open formal typologies of multiforms in this poetic system.

Using a life stories approach to examine the career path of volleyball legend Lang Ping, this article analyzes how the " narrative self " is constructed in her growth into a transnational sports leader. Situated in China's sports media culture, the article examines major components of authentic leadership development in her coaching career, including leader self-awareness/self-regulation, leadership practice/follower development, and sustained performance. While the media narratives around her success ranged from patriotism and professionalism to Olympic spirit over the decades, she has maintained a reflective perspective in her identity articulation and engaged in transformative leadership practice. The paper also discusses the implications of Lang Ping's success for empowering women in the globalization of China's sports system.

L'un des fondements de la perspective la plus fréquemment adoptée pour aborder la pseudonymie réside dans le présupposé en vertu duquel le pseudonyme serait en un nom choisi par une personne pour se substituer à son nom et à son identité légale et, dans certains cas, la dissimuler. Cette conception du pseudonyme le rapporte à un autre nom, tenu pour authentique, celui de l'auteur réel.

There is a rich body of literature on the experience of Japanese immigrants in the United States, and there are also numerous accounts of the cultural dislocation felt by American expats in Japan. But what happens when Japanese Americans, born and raised in the United States, are the ones living abroad in Japan?

Redefining Japaneseness chronicles how Japanese American migrants to Japan navigate and complicate the categories of Japanese and “foreigner.” Drawing from extensive interviews and fieldwork in the Tokyo area, Jane H. Yamashiro tracks the multiple ways these migrants strategically negotiate and interpret their daily interactions. Following a diverse group of subjects—some of only Japanese ancestry and others of mixed heritage, some fluent in Japanese and others struggling with the language, some from Hawaii and others from the US continent—her study reveals wide variations in how Japanese Americans perceive both Japaneseness and Americanness.

Making an important contribution to both Asian American studies and scholarship on transnational migration, Redefining Japaneseness critically interrogates the common assumption that people of Japanese ancestry identify as members of a global diaspora. Furthermore, through its close examination of subjects who migrate from one highly-industrialized nation to another, it dramatically expands our picture of the migrant experience.

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I offer an autoethnographic inquiry into the process of finding one’s way out of the maze of mental illness; it is an examination of how in the course of creating music to express my suffering from bipolar disorder, I found a poetic and musical expression for my soul. Making music gradually moved my focus away from illness toward imagination and creativity and brought about a major shift in my positioning in terms of my identity, helping me to construct the selfhood of an artist rather than that of an ill person. This transformation is explored in the context of India’s music and spiritual tradition and the Western framework of resource-oriented music therapy, an approach that prioritizes participant empowerment and uses music for self-care.
Keywords: music therapy, poetry, bipolar disorder, narrative reconstruction, autoethnography, rehabilitation, self-healing, Indian ragas

Citation: Sharma, P. (2014). Making song, making sanity- Recovery from Bipolar disorder. Canadian Journal of Music Therapy, 20(1), 2014, pp.65-84