Confessional Account Research Articles

The “I” as Implicated Subject: Performative Confession in Rian Malan’s My Traitor’s Heart

Confessional forms of autobiographical writing have predominated in post-apartheid South African literary studies. This paper discusses Rian Malan’s My Traitor’s Heart, published in 1990 during drastic social and political changes in South Africa’s transition to democracy. It was one of the first and most prominent examples of this genre. Focusing on Malan’s perspective as a white Afrikaner and an “implicated subject”, this study explored how his confessional account grappled with the existential dilemma of post-apartheid Afrikaner identity. Malan simultaneously affirmed his Afrikaner identity to confront his implication in apartheid and sought to establish a legitimate place for this identity within the new multicultural society. Through a close reading of Malan’s strategic performance, this paper argues that his work offers a means of reimagining the collective self in a new community and understanding historical injustices from a multidimensional perspective. Ultimately, My Traitor’s Heart contributes to the post-apartheid project of envisioning a more inclusive psychological and topographical construction of individual and collective identity, with the implicated subject as its centre.

Sustaining Significance of Confessional Form: Taking Foucault to Attitudinal Research

This paper offers a conceptual reconstruction and empirical case study of an often-eclipsed concept of Michel Foucault’s genealogical project, confession. Departing from Foucault’s dictum that his core research interest rests in the experience of the subject, I argue that, without a detailed understanding of diverse modalities of the confessional form, various subjectivation processes and epistemological procedures could not be fully grasped. In the first part, I systematise Foucault’s incoherent confessional account against the backdrop of his entangled genealogies of modern man and the human sciences. Subsequently, I introduce a case study of a quantitative attitudinal survey based on face-to-face interviews to test Foucault’s model of confession in present-day circumstances and demonstrate its sustaining analytical significance by disclosing the cognitive technique of coding behaviour. Thus far, governmentality studies have confronted positivistic methods in social sciences to display their objectifying functions. In contrast, I use the technique of coding behaviour to immerse into these scientific practices. Such a perspective delivers a fine-grained exposure of epistemological strategies in social sciences that are enabled by the appropriation of the confessional model and that constitute subjective identities on an individual and mass scale.

A Confessional and Narrative Vision for Philosophy of Education: Justification and Basic Presuppositions of a Postmodern Approach

In this article, we attempt to justify and present the basic presuppositions of a (Christian) confessional and narrative vision for philosophy of education in a postmodern context. We argue that although the nihilistic strand of postmodernity challenges the viability of religious discourse, postmodernity also re-opens the world toward its pre-rational foundations by means of the rediscovery of the primacy of narrative. In a postmodern age, any philosophy of education implies a basic understanding of, at least, the (historical) present and the past, in order to establish its place in the scholarly community of educators and educationists. We discern between two different versions of postmodernity and then proceed to explore what constitutes the postmodern narrative identity. Because the rise of postmodernity is intrinsically linked both to modernity and to the pre-modern Christian vision of the world, we explore the justification of a (Christian) confessional and narrative vision for philosophy of education in this respect by means of three fundamental questions. By elaborating on a postmodern Christian vision and by attempting to answer these questions in a narrative manner, we propose that a confessional and narrative vision for philosophy of education may be justified for the contemporary age. Toward this end, we deepen the postmodern rediscovery of narrative further by exploring the work of narrative. We then present a brief confessional account of the nature and scope of philosophy of education. Finally, we propose some of the central tenets of the Christian faith as presuppositions of our vision for philosophy of education.

Being and becoming a “good” qualitative researcher? Liminality and the risk of limbo

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to re-conceptualise “good” qualitative research by discussing the intersection between “good” qualitative research and different identity states of “good” qualitative researcher. It uses the anthropological concept of liminality and related concept of limbo to help illustrate the implications of this intersection.Design/methodology/approachA reflexive and personal confessional account is provided of the author’s “living in” the liminal transition of the identity states from full-time PhD student to full-time early career researcher, questioning the author’s experiences in relation to others and the implications for the social construction of “good” qualitative research.Findings“Good” qualitative research is not just what to do but how to be. “PhD student” is a defined and temporary transitional liminal identity state. It has a clear point of separation (acceptance and registration of student status) and aggregation (“good” qualitative research signed of through thesis and viva). Contrasting with this is the “early career researcher” identity state, any point of aggregation towards “established researcher” is predicated on the unpredictability of publication and delivering impact indicators.Originality/valueThe paper demonstrates unsettling and in-betweenness of “good” qualitative research intersecting with the experience and composition of being a “good” qualitative researcher in the academy. It is important for debates regarding the qualities of academic development from PhD student to established researcher.

Researcher’s guilt: confessions from the darker side of ethnographic consumer research

ABSTRACTA reflexive approach to qualitative research seeks to uncover structures of inequality in the research encounter. On the surface, it would seem that ethnographic methods provide the conditions to alleviate this methodological instrumentalism. By employing a confessional account, this paper demonstrates how the paradox of asymmetrical rapport prevents ethnographic work from reaching its collaborative potential. Drawing from insights in an ethnographic enquiry in an arts charity, the author narrates the guilty experiences that arise when researchers reproduce a culture of commodifying informants. This is exemplified through impression management tactics that generate an illusion of mutuality, alternating with more authentic instances of co-participation. The implications of this self-perceived moral violation are discussed for the researched, the researcher and ethnographies of consumption more broadly. The paper contributes to the methodological literature by explaining the potential of confessional accounts as a tool to operationalise reflexive, reciprocal practice, counteracting the demands of a knowledge economy.

A confessional account of community entry: doing critically reflexive ICT4D work in a deep rural community in South Africa

ABSTRACTIn this paper I reflect on the community entry phases of doing a critical ethnography in a traditional Zulu community in a deep rural part of South Africa. I present my reflections in the form of confessional narratives on community entry and on how an Information Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) project was introduced in the community. Drawing on a basic principle of doing social science research, I ask: In what ways should I achieve self-emancipation, in order to ensure the on-going emancipation and empowerment of the people I engage with? I also ask: How should one do critically reflexive community entry and ICT4D project introduction in communities that embrace a people-orientated worldview? The paper is practice-orientated in that it demonstrates critical self-reflexive community entry in a particular ICT4D project situation, how community entry encounters informed follow-up work, and how cultural interpreters empowered me to do community entry successfully. Methodologically, the paper contributes by demonstrating the value of using narrative examples to represent virtuoso expertise of how I developed knowledge of self-reflexivity while excavating hidden social meanings from an ICT4D project situation.

How a professionally qualified doctoral student bridged the practice-research gap: a confessional account of Collaborative Practice Research

Information Systems (IS) is a profession-based discipline that constantly seeks new ways to bridge the practice-research gap. These efforts include enacting scholar-practitioner roles across institutional boundaries, developing and disseminating new knowledge, and engaging professionally qualified doctoral students. Against this backdrop, we provide a confessional account of 10 years of Collaborative Practice Research (CPR) between Anna, an IS practitioner, and Lars, an IS researcher. The collaboration was initiated when Anna, while working full-time, engaged as doctoral student with Lars as supervisor. Combining social process modeling with theories of change and learning, we show how Anna and Lars responded to the experienced challenges and opportunities, how Anna's action strategies developed as she grew into becoming a practitioner-researcher, how the collaboration impacted the practice context, and, how the research resulted in traditional publication outcomes. On the basis of these analyses, we discuss how to engage professionally qualified doctoral students within the IS discipline. In addition, we offer lessons on how CPR can help bridge the practice-research gap as a path towards becoming a practitioner-researcher.

Historicity and Multi-Sited Ethnography: Fieldwork in the Age of Postmodernism and Globalization

Situated in the historical backdrop of a major twentieth-century conflict, this paper offers a confessional account of my experiences in attempting to execute multi-sited ethnography. Multi-sited e...

Initiate: Constructing the ‘reality’ of male team sport initiation rituals

This article re-enacts a typical experience of male sport initiation at a university in the south of England and presents a confessional account of my own shifting epistemological position and desire to create more balanced, ethical, reflexive and self-effacing research. The tale of initiation is constructed from ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with male collegiate football (soccer) players and subsequent purposive conversations with male collegiate rugby players. It aims to confront the reader with the lived experience of male student sport initiations, providing a platform for unremitting reflection and greater possibilities for academic recourse. In particular, I suggest, the tale constructs a dais for sociological dialogue about the existentiality and configurations of, and relationships between, deviance, masculinities and subcultural identities in a student sport setting.

From “being there” to “being […] where?”: relocating ethnography

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to expand recent discussions of research practice in organizational ethnography by engaging in a reflexive examination of the ethnographer's situated identity work across different research spaces: academic, personal and the research site itself.Design/methodology/approachExamines concerns with the traditional notion of “being there” as it applies to ethnography in contemporary organization studies and, through a confessional account exploring the author's own experiences as a PhD student conducting ethnography, considers “being […] where?” using the analytic framework of situated identity work.FindingsIdentifies both opportunities and challenges for organizational ethnographers facing the question of “being […] where?” through highlighting the situated nature of researchers’ identity work in, across and between different (material and virtual) research spaces.Practical implicationsThe paper provides researchers with prompts to examine their own situated identity work, which may prove particularly useful for novice researchers and their supervisors, while also identifying the potential for incorporating these ideas within organizational ethnography more broadly.Originality/valueThe paper offers situated identity work as a means to provide renewed analytic vigour to the confessional genre whilst highlighting new opportunities for reflexive and critical ethnographic research practice.

The jouissance of learning: evolutionary musings on the pleasures of learning in higher education

This paper presents a philosophy and method for an ongoing investigation into the cause and effect of student emotions in higher education. In particular, it presents the possibilities for exploring students’ positive emotions as ‘jouissance’ experiences linked to the transgression of power relations and social structures. The paper takes the form of ‘evolutionary musings’ that guide the reader through a confessional account of the research programme, the epistemological and methodological challenges, the limits of data already produced, and suggestions for a future approach. The musings maintain that descriptions of causal relationships of pedagogic action and the phenomenology of students’ feelings of gratification are not enough to plausibly interpret the locatedness and meaning of emotions, and that the emotional nexus is shaped by and continues to inform social relationships.

In and out of actor‐network theory: a necessary but insufficient journey

PurposeThis paper seeks to offer a retrospective look at an intellectual journey in and out of using actor‐network theory, which the author drew on to carry out an in‐depth case study of the troubled implementation of a computerised reservation system in a major transport company. The application of some key ANT concepts, i.e. human and non‐human actors, symmetry and translation, is reflected upon, highlighting their benefits and limitations.Design/methodology/approachThe paper's aims are accomplished through a confessional account of how it was done, rather than a normative post hoc justification. Some empirical evidence is provided to illustrate the difficulties and problems encountered in travelling back and forth between theory, methodology and data.FindingsIn particular, ANT was very useful in focusing the paper on how to look at IS success and failure symmetrically and how social and technical distinctions are socially constructed, for instance in the conception and application of yield management software. Formulating a series of translations to encompass a large number of actors is shown to have provided some explanatory capacity. But a limitation is how to relate local and global actors, which is also a matter of power relations and politics.Originality/valueThe paper explains why, as a late and unplanned reaction to this, but also in contradiction with ANT principles, it ended up complementing ANT with Clegg's theory of power to bridge that gap. The paper concludes with a discussion of where the difficulties lie in using ANT and how it can be misused in IS research; the author argues that this is due to a lack of exposure to post‐structuralism in IS research, compared with other management‐related disciplines; and that recent efforts by scholars in the science and technology studies field to combine constructivist approaches such as ANT with critical social analysis should be considered.

A Confessional Account of an Ethnography about Knowledge Work

Information systems research has traditionally focused on information as an object that serves as input to decision making. Such a perspective attends mainly to the use of information. Increasingly, however, organizations are concerned about the production of information. This paper focuses on the work of producing informational objects, an activity central to knowledge work. Based on data collected during an eight-month ethnographic study of three groups of knowledge workers-computer system administrators, competitive intelligence analysts, and librarians-I explore the informing practices they relied upon. These are identified as ex-pressing, monitoring, and translating. Common to these informing practices is the knowledge workers' endeavor to balance subjectivity and objectivity, where subjectivity is a necessary part of doing value adding work and objectivity promises workers authority and a sense of security.

Prozac Diary (review)

The written word has in fad been spoken for most of its history. The Romans both composed and read their books oraUy. Cicero, for example , composed aloud by night, memorized his passages, then dictated them the next day to a scribe. In his fourth-century Confessions, St. Augustine recorded the first known description of someone reading süently and without moving his Ups—the awesome scholar Ambrose. As late as the nineteenth century, when the most popular authors were also lecturers and readers, the oral presentation of texts remained as important as sUent reading. Jane Austen read her compositions aloud to entertain family and friends. Most of the canonical authors of the nineteenth century were performers for private and pubUc entertainment, and many of them read aloud to their friends for editing suggestions. Certain books can best be experienced , or reexperienced, by listening to them. The growing variety of books on tape and CD provides great companions for travel, exercise or busy work. At The Missouri Review, we have dedded to pick some of the best of these audio books for regular review. What sets apart the four-volume CD of Herman MelviUe's 1851 novel Moby Dick (since this item can be somewhat hard to find, we have included the ISBN above) is the length of the recording—almost five hours—and the soUd performance of the text. MelviUe's novel is full of high rhetoric and colorful vernacular , and BUl BaUey mercifully doesn't overdo it. For whole passages he reads almost quietly, nicely modulating MelviUe's word-intoxication. As with many of the best quest tales, Captain Ahab's relentless pursuit of the giant albino whale can be read in many ways. Like a revenge play of the Elizabethan era, it teUs of a monomaniacal pursuit by a powerful man caught in a recursive and shaUow urge to avenge himself.Ahab is agifted, intelligentman, madesuperfidal by his inabUity to examine his own motives. He invests his enemy with metaphysical projections of evÜ or of transcendent meaning. RepeatedlyAhab must rallyhis forces to weld them to his purpose, lending poUtical overtones to a tale that already has moral and metaphysical ones. Though Ahab is a character who is hard to care about in the usual sense, his men are full of pathos and humanity , from the three colorful mates, Starbuck, Stubb and Flask, to the multicultural crew and the intelligent witness Ishmael, teUer of the tale. The joy of this book is its largeness of purpose and its language, which is even more powerful to hear than to read. I wiU probably not reread Moby Dick, but I am now sure to listen to it again. (SM) Prozac Diary by Lauren Slater Random House, 1998, 203 pp., $21.95 Though the story of a life lived on Prozac may sound like the stuff of talk shows, Lauren Slater's memoir, Prozac Diary, is a more analytical than confessional account of her tenyear experience with the drug. Slater, one of the first long-term users of Prozac, gives us a perspective that is unswayedby currentprevailingstereotypes about its risks and benefits, The Missouri Review · 173 imparting through her well-honed prose an experience that has been confusing, painful, and strangely beautiful. Prozac Diary begins shortly after the FDA approved the use of Prozac in the late '80s, when a psychiatrist prescribed the medication to help treat Slater's obsessive-compulsive disorder and borderline personaUty disorder. She marveled at her quick reaction: "It was as though I'd been visited by a blind piano tuner . . . who had tweaked the ivory bones of my body, the taut strings in my skull, and now, when I pressed on myseU the same notes but with a mellower, milder sound sprang out." Slater recounts how, in this transformation, she both gained and lost parts of herself , since the Prozac stifled her creativity along with her compulsive behavior. As she and Prozac continued their "growing up together" her feelings about this tradeoff became more and more ambivalent, until her Prozac "poop-out" on a research trip in Kentucky which resulted in a relapse and a réévaluation of her relationship with the drug. Slater effectively intertwines the...

Learning to be intellectually insecure: the dis/empowering effects of reflexive practice

This paper poses the question ‘Is it possible to think too much and too deeply about the meanings in our work?’ This paper presents case study approaches to adult learning in terms of two narratives: learning as journeying and the confessional account. My aim is firstly to draw attention to the processes of reflective learning embedded in concepts of reflexivity. Thus, learning to be reflexive is as significant as the products of reflexivity. Secondly, I highlight the ways in which the processes and products of reflexivity can be simultaneously dis/empowering.

Ten Years After the Free Speech Movement: Reflections of a Participant

When I arrived at Earlham (a Quaker liberal arts college) from graduate study at Berkeley, a sincere young man from the student newspaper came knocking on my office door asking for a confessional account of my past political sins. That was a first for me. I tried to accommodate the young man as best I could, all the while feeling slightly uneasy. The story in the first edition of the year ran under the blazing headline, “Former Marxist Joins Political Science Department.”