Cultural Categories Research Articles

English –Arabic Translation of Culture-Specific Items in Laila Lalami’s The Moor’s Account: A Textual Analysis

The main aim of this study is analyse how culture-specific items (henceforth CSIs), metaphors and idioms are translated from English into Arabic. The corpus of this study subsumes Laila Lamai’s The Moor’s Account and its Arabic version Ma Rawahu Al Maghribi "مارواه المغربي" translated by Nouf Al-Maymouni. Methodologically speaking, this study is based on a bunch of theories, namely Postcolonial Theory, Derrida’s deconstruction, and Hans Vermeer and Katharina Reiss’s Skopos Theory. In analysing thus novel, Document analysis Protocol is followed (see Appendix). It entails extracting CSIs from the source text and the target text and classifying them in an inventory according to Peter Newmark’s cultural categories. Eirlys Davies’ (2003) taxonomy for the translation of CSIs is applied so as to identify the micro-strategies that were adopted by the translator. Idioms and metaphors are also classified in an inventory and Mona Baker’s (2018) taxonomy for the translation of idioms is applied. Lawrence Venuti’s macro-strategies of foreignization and domestication are applied as well.

Formation of cultural identity of students as a subject of pedagogical discussion

Introduction. Geopolitical challenges of our time encourage teachers to search for optimal means to counteract the deformation of the ideological positions of students, the mixing of cultures, and the devaluation of traditional cultural and historical values. In this context, the formation of cultural identity among students and schoolchildren, which unites all-Russian and regional cultural meanings at the content level, acquires great theoretical and practical significance. As an example, the Novgorod cultural identity is given as an integrative symbol of the cultural and historical heritage of Russia and the Novgorod region. The purpose of the study is the scientific substantiation of the concepts of “cultural code” and “cultural identity” as pedagogical phenomena containing national and regional components. Materials and methods. Using theoretical methods (interdisciplinary analysis, synthesis, generalization), a study of scientific sources was carried out, which made it possible to identify the relationship between the concepts of “cultural code” and “cultural identity”. In order to determine the components and levels of formation of cultural identity among students, a survey was conducted of 327 students and schoolchildren of the Novgorod region aged 14 to 21 years. Statistical data processing was carried out using the Google Forms service. Results. Based on a theoretical analysis of scientific sources, it was established that cultural identity as a conscious position of young people can be purposefully formed by pedagogical means, and the cultural code can be generated and transmitted by various institutions of socialization. The survey data recorded a fairly high level of development of the cognitive component of the cultural identity of students and an average level of development of the affective and behavioral components. Based on the results obtained, the problematic field of cultural categories was translated into the plane of pedagogical discussion and their characteristics as social and pedagogical phenomena were given. Conclusion. The conducted research made it possible to identify the relationship between the concepts of “cultural code” and “cultural identity”, to determine the general civil and regional aspects of the cultural identity of students. The comprehensive educational program for training future teachers developed by the authors, which includes the history of education and enlightenment of the Novgorod region, the theoretical foundations of educational tourism, museum and excursion pedagogy, will be of practical interest for university teachers and school teachers who carry out educational work with students.

"I proto, že jsem nekopal roli srdce svého"

This article carries on from the analysis of the "religious culture" of Würtemberg Lutheran pietism offered by Ulrike Gleixner, and is based on the theoretical concepts of culture used in Anthropological History and New Cultural History. Gleixner´s study shows the central importance in religious culture that "rebirth in the Holy Spirit" had for the thematisation of the self among 18th-century pietists. The question is whether we might find similar cultural categories serving as instruments of thematisation of the self in the "religious culture" of 18th-century Czech non-Catholics, who were partially influenced by Lutheran pietism. The article is focused on the analysis of a number of selected sources (especially the letters of the Czech serf Matěj Němeček of 1732, in which he gives reasons for his departure into Protestant exile), and it considers how the categories of "rebirth", the "heart" and "conscience" are treated. While Němeček does not speak directly of "rebirth", in the way that he describes himself we can find equivalents to rebirth that in a certain sense show a sectarian character (he regards a secular promise as sinful, the religious transformation of the self needs to be affirmed by emigration to a non-Catholic country, and this is understood as a work of salvation).

Christian and Indigenous: Multiple “Religions” in Contemporary Toraja Funerals

The theoretical framework of “religion” is problematic, especially in studying non-Western realities. In the field, I often encountered its Indonesian and Toraja most common equivalents—agama and aluk. There were also categories assigned to the realm of “culture” rather than “religion”. Toraja funeral ceremonies, which originated from the indigenous religion and became predominantly Christianized, are defined in religious and/or cultural categories. How do these related categories manifest in the utterances of the ritual actors of Toraja funerals? This article is based primarily on interviews; it refers to statements from 34 purposively chosen research participants. The attitudes towards the Toraja funeral tradition vary based on religious affiliation. The lines between different perspectives and categorization characteristics of Christianities and the minority indigenous religion are blurred but distinguishable.

Level of Participative Leadership, Quality Culture, Job Satisfaction and Achievement Motivation Lecturer at the Faculty of Sports Science, Universitas Negeri Medan

This research aims to evaluate the level of participative leadership, quality culture, job satisfaction and achievement motivation of lecturers at the Faculty of Sports Sciences, Medan State University. The method used in this research uses descriptive methods and a survey research form. The population and sample in this research were 100 lecturers at the Faculty of Sports Science, Medan State University. The results of the research carried out showed that the participative leadership category showed that it was 80.20% in the "high" category. The quality culture category shows that it is 85.64% in the "high" category. The job satisfaction category shows that it is 70.30% in the "medium" category. The achievement motivation category shows that it is 73.27% in the "medium" category. This shows that although participative leadership and a culture of quality have been achieved well, there are challenges in increasing job satisfaction and achievement motivation of lecturers at the Faculty of Sports Science, Medan State University. These findings show the importance of strategic interventions to increase job satisfaction and achievement motivation, even though the basics of leadership and quality culture are already quite strong.

Framing Chinese Youth in the Aftermath of the Cultural Revolution

Abstract The launching of the reform program in 1978 went hand in hand with praising Chinese youth as the vanguard of the new struggle for modernising China. Yet, the official rhetoric projected the ideal youth, while being at odds with the complex reality of the early post-Mao era, when the experience of the Cultural Revolution (CR) turned out to be the main reason for the so-called ‘youth problem’. Both international and Chinese literature have highlighted that in the reform era, youth, intended as a social and cultural category or construct, came to be associated with less positive values, and the traditional discourse of ‘youth as hope’ proliferated along and intertwined with a negative discourse of ‘youth as trouble’. This paper looks at the re-emergence of the Communist Youth League (CYL) as a key institutional actor in setting the stage for the construction of a new social discourse on youth in the transitional period 1978–1981, when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership confronted with the need to deal with the tumultuous upheaval of the CR and its impact on youth on the one hand, and to push forward the reformist agenda on the other. By mainly relying on CYL sources (documents, internal publications and the official youth press), a part of which has been largely unexplored so far, it shows how the discourse on youth became complex and multifaceted in those historical circumstances, reflecting not just different views within the élite but also and most importantly the very tensions involved in the reform project. While the existence of the ‘youth problem’ led to establishing a causal nexus with the now condemned ultra-leftist tendencies associated with Lin Biao and the Gang of Four, the need to make sense of the complexity of youth boosted a heated debate on youth characteristics, with a number of cadres and adult experts affiliated to the CYL defining, describing and prescribing what Chinese youth were in ways that, by ensuring they had not been guilty as former Red Guards and recognising them as both victims and increasingly emancipated actors, eventually pushed forward a new idea of youth that conformed to the new modernization aims of the Party. Providing an assessment of the young generation and its inclinations in the aftermath of the CR eventually became the premise for facilitating the emergence of a new youth subjectivity, while envisioning the integration of the self within the broader collective and the coexistence of liberal values with traditional socialist ethics. The debate on youth characteristics reflected the complex changes taking place in China and was constitutive of a broader process that set the stage for rethinking the socialisation of youth in the post-Mao era.

Genetic Enhancement, Human Rights, and Regioglobal Bioethics.

This article examines the cross-cultural bioethical concerns stemming from the potential use of CRISPR-Cas9 for genetic enhancement projects. It emphasizes the need to differentiate between basic and non-basic human rights when considering genetic enhancement, as recent international declarations lack this distinction. Basic rights possess a universal nature and are applicable across cultures, while non-basic rights are culturally specific and should be determined within respective regions. To illustrate this, the study explores the acceptance or rejection of non-basic rights related to genetic enhancement in two distinct cultural categories: Type-A and Type-B cultures. Type-A cultures predominantly adhere to a liberal moral framework, while Type-B cultures are rooted in Confucian morality. Additionally, the article argues for two basic rights in genetic enhancement: the right to be free from bodily harm and the right to be free from deception. These rights differ from non-basic rights and should be universally upheld in all cultures. By analyzing a hypothetical case and drawing parallels with the He Jiankui incident, the article investigates the violation of these two basic rights in each scenario, regardless of cultural context. Consequently, both cases should be unequivocally rejected in both Type-A and Type-B cultures.

Cultural categories and Dimensions in Kurikulum Merdeka English Textbooks for Junior High School: A Textbook Analysis

Cultural categories and Dimensions in Kurikulum Merdeka English Textbooks for Junior High School: A Textbook Analysis

Queer media in the age of streaming video

This article contributes to an emerging field of research on the classification and organisation of film and television on streaming video platforms. While scholarship has begun to grapple with the complexities of the streaming video landscape, critical frameworks have yet to be established for examining issues of LGBTIQA+ inclusion in this context. This article explores questions about what queer media is in the streaming video era and how is this shaped by the information practices of streaming video services. Classification and organisation of titles is a significant factor in the discoverability of content on streaming video platforms. In the context of queer media, classification practices also impact the visibility of marginalised LGBTIQA+ identities, communities, and cultures. Beyond this, the categorisation practices of streaming video providers play a significant role in shaping and communicating cultural values about queer media. From an Australian vantage point, this article maps the contours of queer media in the streaming video environment, focusing on Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) and Broadcast Video on Demand (BVOD) services. By investigating the categories that streaming video providers use to organise and highlight LGBTIQA+ film and television, this article identifies how queer media is defined as a cultural category through use of labels such as ‘pride’, the categories and subcategories that approach queer media as a constellation of niche interests, and an underlying emphasis on ‘good’ characters and positive LGBTIQA+ narratives.

Cultural–Cognitive Study of Selected Death-Oriented Personal Names in Igbo

Working chiefly within the tenets of Cultural Linguistics (CL), this study examines the cultural and cognitive motivations that underlie selected death-oriented personal names among the Igbo of South-eastern Nigeria. Based on the cultural linguistic perspective, the analytical tool for the study is shaped by insights from cultural schemas, cultural categories and cultural metaphors as signifiers of ideation and social meaning. The cultural frames enable the language user to have a better understanding of the cultural and cognitive motivations that underlie the conceptualization of names and naming among the Igbo. Much has been done on the structure and sociological forms of Igbo personal names and their meanings, but only a few studies have been undertaken on the names that express the notions of death and dying in Igbo. More importantly, no previous study has used insights from Cultural Linguistics (CL) or the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) to explain the motivations for the preponderance of death-oriented names among the Igbo people. Thus, this study specifically aims to address the lacuna. The study reveals that the Igbo, like most African and other human societies, recognize and accept the inevitability of death. Consequently, they use language in diverse forms and contexts to express their perceptions of the horrors and pains associated with the inevitability of death. Songs, proverbs and ritual practices are some of the verbal and social semiotic forms through which the Igbo express their knowledge of and attitude toward death and dying. However, names and naming are the most vivid cultural cognitive patterns by which the Igbo show their understanding of the nature of death and dying and their psychological effects on the living. Constrained by space and scope, this study identified and classified six major death-oriented names among the Igbo, as follows: names that depict the overwhelming power of death; names that make an appeal to death; names that depict death as wicked/evil/terror; names that depict death as no respecter of wealth/social class; names that challenge/mock the assumed power of death; and names that depict death as an insensitive entity. Thus, the above frames constitute the major paradigms by which the Igbo express their knowledge of and attitudes toward death and dying.

A Cultural Content Analysis of The 2018 Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture-Published English Textbook "Bahasa Inggris" for 12th-Grade Students

This study aims to answer the questions related to the Cultural perspective including cultural categories from Cortazzi and Jin (1999) and cultural dimension from Moran (2001). To answer these questions, descriptive qualitative analysis was used. This research focused on the English student textbook "Bahasa Inggris," published by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture in 2018 for the 12th Grade of Senior High School. The data was collected through reading, comprehending, analyzing, and gathering information from books and in-depth interview with students, as well as through focus group discussions with fellow teachers. The analysis indicates that the "Bahasa Inggris" textbook for twelfth-grade students effectively incorporates cultural perspectives from Cortazzi and Jin (1999) as well as cultural dimensions from Moran (2001). This textbook serves a valuable tool for enhancing students' cultural awareness by encompassing Cultural Content from Cortazzi and Jin (1999), such as Source Culture, Target Culture, and International Culture, and Cultural Dimensions from Moran (2001), including Products, Practices, Perspectives, Communities, and Persons, thereby enriching students' cultural understanding through content and personal experiences. Therefore, the textbook is well-suited for senior/vocational high school twelfth-graders. It enhances students' comprehension of everyday life and cultural facets, making it an invaluable resource for teaching and learning. However, there is a need for substantial improvements to effectively address its weaknesses.

World Englishes and Cultural Linguistics: Theory and research

AbstractThis article explores the evolution of Cultural Linguistics, its fusion with Cognitive Linguistics and Cognitive Sociolinguistics, and its application to the study of world Englishes, emphasising the cultural dimension of language and cognition. It investigates key theoretical concepts in Cultural Linguistics such as cultural categories, schemas, conceptualisations, keywords, models and scenarios as essential analytical tools for examining the interplay between thought, language and culture. Using examples from English varieties in sub‐Saharan Africa, Great Britain, Ireland, India and Hong Kong, this article demonstrates how these conceptual phenomena interact at increasing levels of conceptual complexity. The discussion also distinguishes conceptual metaphor (and metonymy) from the somewhat problematic concept of ‘cultural metaphor’, previously used in some cultural‐linguistic approaches to world Englishes. Finally, the article delves into Conceptual Blending Theory as a possible extension of Cultural Linguistics that synthesises diverse cultural knowledge to interpret culture‐specific expressions in contemporary multilingual settings.

The Imagery of Death in the Visual Discourse of French Illumination of the 13th-15th Centuries: Iconographic Typologies and Artistic Practice

Classical historical and art studies in the context of the development of modern humanities are frequently synthesised with research on visual culture and social art history, forming a broad discourse on the study of the culture of a particular era, country, or community. This optics is taken as the basis for this study, wherein such a fundamental philosophical concept as the attitude towards death is considered from the standpoint of art history iconographic and cultural studies to identify worldviews and ideology in the development of visual narratives that cover and represent them. In this dimension, illuminated manuscripts are the research subject and object where, through the synthesis of text and image, the ability to semiotically read images and decode the symbolic content of cultural categories opens up wide interpretative possibilities for the researcher. The purpose of this study is to outline the wide variability of iconographic typologies associated with the theme of death in the late medieval European culture of the Latin West and to cover the features of the connection of visual culture with the system of worldview representations based on symbolism rooted in religion, folklore, and court aristocratic culture. The proposed study uses an interdisciplinary scientific approach and an art history approach. The research is based on the methods of stylistic and formal analysis, semiotics, and hermeneutics. The typological approach allowed identifying groups of images united by identical semantics of image interpretation, joint compositional and plot solutions designed to accessibly decode their semantics. First, the ontological and metaphysical foundations of the perception of death as a phenomenon in the philosophical and anthropological dimension in culture in general, and in western European culture in particular, are defined and characterised. In the context of the analysis of the features of the symbolic and iconographic interpretation of images of death in the visual culture of illumination of the 13th-15th centuries, groups of images are identified, united by identical semantics of interpretation of these images, joint compositional and plot solutions designed to accessibly decode their semantics, namely the imagery of the death of saints and clergy, imagery of the death of monarchs, the death of soldiers, noble chivalry, the death of fallen in battle, the death of women, imagery of suicides, as well as imagery of violent death, murder. This study covers a wide range of potential recipients in modern humanitarianism and can be useful for historians, medievalists, art historians, anthropologists, and cultural scientists.

Food metaphors and humour in Nigerian online interaction

AbstractThis article explores the complementary role of Cultural Linguistics in making up for the inadequacies of linguistics‐oriented theories of humour in unpacking culturally embedded meanings in humorous discourse. On the basis of purposively sampled internet memes, it analyses different types of cultural presuppositions in some food metaphors that netizens in Nigerian online interaction appropriate to negotiate gender and class identities, which reflect inherent beliefs, shared values and communicative practices in the Nigerian world. It applies Sharifian’s categorisation of the analytical tools of Cultural Linguistics―cultural schemas, cultural categories and cultural metaphors. The article concludes that mental spaces and conceptual blending are instrumental in forging a holistic conceptual approach, which can account for not only the linguistic but also cultural and discursive meanings of humour as an essentially social and interactional phenomenon.

CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING THE COMPETITIVENESS OF HOSPITALITY ESTABLISHMENTS

Today, the tourism and hospitality industries are important social, economic, and cultural categories that serve as the basis for the development of economies in many countries. Ukraine is no exception. Although the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has left its mark on this sector of the economy, causing great losses, the situation has not changed globally and its development remains a priority today, especially in the context of Ukraine's vector towards European integration. This is what makes the chosen research topic relevant. Competition is a driving force for social and economic progress. In the current business environment in the market of hotel and tourist services, in order to maintain the competitiveness of a hospitality institution, it is necessary to implement a whole range of measures to form and consolidate competitive advantages. The competitiveness of a hospitality establishment must be sustainable not only in economic and environmental terms, but also in social, cultural and political terms. Thus, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, a large number of hospitality businesses have suspended operations for security reasons, lack of demand, technical reasons, or as a result of damage or destruction from shelling. At the same time, despite the widespread understanding of the importance of defining it, there is no uniformity in the scientific literature in understanding the criteria by which it should be determined. In the article, the author makes an attempt to systematize the existing criteria for the competitiveness of hospitality establishments and identify those that are important for the development of hospitality establishments. Using such research methods as analysis, synthesis and the systematic method, the author has determined that such criteria should include the following indicators: pricing features, quality of services and amenities, online presence, human resources, effectiveness of marketing strategies used, and the ability to adapt and minimize risks. By analyzing the activities of the company and competitors in this niche, owners will be able to ensure a high level of competitiveness of their company.

Tackling the social marketing formative research bottleneck: comparative analysis of the complementary nature of community-generated personas and focus groups

Purpose This study aims to understand the utility of personas and illustrate, through a case study, how a persona-building exercise in a Community Based Prevention Marketing (CBPM) training of community leaders elicited important insights that complemented findings from ongoing formative research on vaccine hesitancy in the Hispanic/Latino population in the USA during COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory concurrent parallel qualitative study design compared three personas created by community-based organization members (n = 37) to transcripts from five formative research focus groups (n = 30) from the same project. All participants in this study were recruited by the National COVID-19 Resiliency Network as part of their capacity-building and formative research activities. Grounded theory guided the content analysis. Findings This study found personas and focus groups to be complementary. A high degree of co-occurrence was observed when investigating the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine under the categories of barriers, culture and communication. Between the two methods, the authors found strong associations between fear, disruption to the value system, work-related barriers, inaccessibility to health care and information sources and misinformation. Areas of divergence were negligible. Research limitations/implications While personas provided background information about the population and sharing “how” to reach the priority population, focus groups provided the “why” behind the behavior, followed by “how”. Practical implications A community-driven persona-building process built on cultural community knowledge and existing data can build community capacity, provide rich information to assist in the creation of tailored messages, strategies and overall interventions during a public health crisis and provide user-centered, evidence-based information about a priority population while researchers and practitioners wait on the results from formative research. Originality/value This case study provided a unique opportunity to analyze the complementary effectiveness of two methods acting in tandem to understand the priority population: stakeholder-informed persona-building and participant-informed focus group interviews. Understanding their complementary nature addresses a time gap that often exists between researchers and practitioners during times of crises and builds on recommendations associated with bringing rigor into practice, promoting academic contribution to real-world issues and building collaborative partnerships. Finally, it supports the utility of a nimble tool that improves social marketers’ ability to know more about their audience for intervention design when time is of the essence and formative research is ongoing.

A Comparative Study of Cultural Categories in American English and Vietnamese Shop Signs

There is a lack of studies on shop sign language from the perspective of Cultural Linguistics. This study contributes to the approach by investigating cultural categories in American English and Vietnamese shop signs. The corpus for analysis includes 1,748 shop signs in the US and 1,585 shop signs in Vietnam. The cultural categories are analyzed and evaluated based on their prototypes and subcategories compared from three dimensions: (1) linguistic expressions and frequency of occurrence, (2) generative capacity (in combination with other categories), and (3) pragmatic meaning (other functions related to communicative reality). The results show certain variations of the cultural categories in the three dimensions between the two speech communities, making each prototype distinctive from others in the same register and its own cross-cultural equivalents. The category variations reflect the two speech communities’ typical psychology, cognition, shared knowledge, and experience.

Signs of colour symbolism in traditional Altaian culture

The study of the symbolism of traditional culture categories, including the symbolism of colour in folklore studies and toponymic names becomes very relevant due to the revival of many aspects of spiritual culture. Nowadays the symbolism of colour becomes important in the life of a modern person. It accumulates deep meanings. The extent of research done on the topic: In the Altaian folkloristics colour epithets were studied in detail in the research of M. A. Demchinova, V. P. Oinoshev, S. P. Tyukhteneva and others. Up to the present time colour symbolism in the traditional culture of the Altaian people has not been the object of special research. The aim of the study is to highlight some aspects of colour symbolism in folklore art and toponymy of the Altai Mountains. Theoretical comprehension of colour symbolism as a special category in Altaian folklore studies is based on the functional method and has been applied in the researches by S.S. Surazakov, S.P. Tyukhteneva and M.A. Demchinova. The genre symbolism of Altaian folklore seemed to be considered in those researches. The present study includes the usage of a complex of comparative and historical research methods. Being a characteristic and actively used component for a number of ethnonyms, toponyms, hydronyms and to designate religious names colour has a great semantic load in the traditions of Altaians. For example, many Altaian clans (seoki) are divided into smaller units and colours such as white, black and yellow are actively used to name them: ak (white) kobok [kœbœk], karа (black) kobok [kœbœk], kara todosh (black todosh), sary todosh (yellow todosh). There is also a large number of hydronyms and toponyms associated with black, white, yellow, blue and other colours: KaraArka, Sary-Chet, Karakol, Akkem, Karasuu etc. O.P. Molchanova, a researcher of the toponymy of the Altai Mountains, writes about the great importance of some adjectives that indicate colour in the construction of geographical names. The use of colour epithets in folklore works creates a colorful image. The sharply contrasting colours show the opposition of good and evil. There is a hierarchy of colours in traditional culture. Red colour shows the colorfulness of the object being described, also symbolizes health, wealth, a world of prosperity. Grey is typical for poor people, and it has semantics of unhealthiness. There are names with the formant “kan” in the toponymy of Altai. It turns out that the formant “kan” is added to the names of especially revered natural objects. The author of the article suggests that the word “kan” (in the meaning of “blood”) is present in the names of especially revered objects. Research perspectives: The results of the research of colour symbolism in folklore and toponymy of the Altai Mountains can be applied for further study of the characterization of artistic images in literature, folklore and ethnography. The topic requires further research.

Race, revival and revolution: defining the Irish Celt

This article considers how the idea of the ‘Celt’ came into being and how the term was leveraged both in service of racism and as a tool for constructing ethnic and political identities. ‘Celt’ is a broad category and this paper focuses specifically on Ireland. Definitions of Celticity came from both within and outside Irish culture and had a diversity of aims. This paper provides a necessary overview of the history of this broad and kaleidoscopic term. It will equip scholars with a better understanding of its use throughout history, particularly in the early twentieth century. After outlining the development of the ‘Celt’ as a racial and cultural category, the paper considers the meaning of Celticity as Ireland approached independence, with particular attention to the revolutionary era, c. 1913–23. The article examines the interplay between Anglo-Irish and revolutionary understandings of the ‘Celt’, and how the idea of a Celtic race was deployed selectively in diverse political and cultural contexts in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In some contexts, the word emphasised solidarity with global independence movements and anti-racist struggles, whilst in others it bolstered the logic of white supremacy. Rather than focusing solely on new engagements with primary texts, one of the aims of this article is to synthesise existing research into a broader narrative of ever-changing classifications and identities. Examining the meanings and uses of this kaleidoscopic term enhances our understanding of Irish identity in a period of political transition.

Perceptions and Experiences of Psychotherapy Among Forced Migrants With Limited English Proficiency

This qualitative study focused on the perspectives of forced migrants’ and their pursuit of mental health services, specifically as they relate to language use in therapy. Semistructured interviews were held during two face-to-face focus groups consisting of 16 adult participants identifying as forced migrants. Analysis of translated and transcribed interviews was conducted by a research team utilizing a constructivist approach to grounded theory. A substantive theoretical model on engagement in therapy emerged, with the core category of culture, which influences forced migrants’ level of trust and mistrust in psychotherapy. Multiple factors, including perceptions of therapy and English language facility, impacted forced migrants’ willingness to engage in psychotherapy. Findings supported language as a barrier to psychotherapy, even when an interpreter was utilized. Consistencies and inconsistencies of findings between the present study and existing literature were offered. Clinical, training, advocacy, and research implications of this study were explored.