Story Of Identity Research Articles

Cardiac disease in pregnancy and the first year postpartum: a story of mental health, identity and connection

BackgroundWomen with cardiac disease in pregnancy and the first year postpartum often face uncertainty about their condition and the trajectory of their recovery. Cardiac disease is a leading cause of serious maternal morbidity and mortality, and the prevalence is increasing. Affected women are at risk of worsening cardiac disease, chronic illness, mental illness and trauma. This compounded risk may lead to significant and long-term negative outcomes. The aim of this study is to correct the lack of visibility and information on the experiences of women with cardiac disease in pregnancy and the first year postpartum.MethodsA qualitative study using in-depth semi-structured interviews with twenty-five women who had acquired, congenital or genetic cardiac disease during pregnancy or the first year postpartum. Data were analysed and interpreted using a thematic analysis framework.ResultsAnalysis of the interviews produced three major themes: 1) Ground zero: index events and their emotional and psychological impact, 2) Self-perception, identity and worthiness, and 3) On the road alone; isolation and connection. There was a narrative consistency across the interviews despite the women being diverse in age, cardiac diagnosis and cardiac health status, parity and timing of diagnosis. The thread prevailing over the temporal and clinical differences was one of distress, biographical disruption, identity, isolation, a necessitated re-imagining of their lives, and the process of multi-layered healing.ConclusionAcknowledging and understanding the breadth, complexity and depth of women’s experiences is fundamental to improving outcomes. Our findings provide unique insights into women’s experiences and challenges across a spectrum of diseases. Most women did not report an isolated trauma or distressing event, rather there was a layering and persistence of psychological distress necessitating enhanced assessment, management and continuity of care beyond the routine 6-week postpartum check. Further research is required to understand long-term outcomes and to refine the findings for specific disease cohorts to be able to respond effectively.

Contemporary Russian Literature in Latvia: Children’s Literature

Throughout the 20th century, Russian children’s literature in Latvia was a unique phenomenon. Against the background of the general trends of Soviet children’s literature, Latvian children’s literature (in both Latvian and Russian) developed in a space that was less constrained in respect of ideological censorship. 21st century children’s literature in Latvia is developing both taking into account the previous history and current trends. The article is devoted to the specific features of children’s literature in Russian, taking into account the general status of the Russian language as a foreign language and general trends in the socio-cultural space of Latvia. The study considers two main issues. First, it is a sociological analysis of the situation: an assortment of children’s books, the specifics of the school programme, awareness of contemporary Latvian and Russian children’s literature. On the other hand, the corpus of texts of contemporary children’s literature is studied, and an overview of the oeuvre of contemporary Latvian authors is presented. The material for literary analysis was the book by Vladimir Novikov, “The Mischief of the Obedient Martins”. In the course of the analysis, the specifics of the traditional children’s story, the cultural and historical context of the cross-border identity of the author and his potential readers, the specifics of the contemporary narrative, the identification of the concept “one’s own – other’s” were revealed.

Anthropologist as Nomad

My anthropological journey has consisted in movement not only between different disciplines, but also between languages, countries and continents. This has involved stories of identity (imagined, constructed, or both), changes of place (teaching in six countries on three continents, and in four languages), searches for a safe haven, and belief in understanding the motives that govern human beings. In this wonderful journey, my coming to the Anthropological Journal of European Cultures seems almost an inevitable event. Or perhaps it is just a product of ‘chance and serendipity’.1 In retrospect, I look at my anthropological journey so far as a voyage of discovery – to different places, under different circumstances and in very different parts of the world.

The Development of The Labour Law of the European Union in 2019 – New Sources and New Perspectives for a More Reliable Legal Framework of Labour Relations. Part One: European Labour Authority – Establishment and Legal Characteristic

In 2019 the development of the labour law of the EU received a strong impetus. The questions of the EU social policy were among the leading activities of all EU institutions. Two acts in the field of EU social policy, adopted in 2019, attract attention because they are expected to have a structural role in the future development of European labour and social law. These are Regulation (EU) 2019/1149 and Directive (EU) 2019/1152. Both acts were adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, both acts have an identical story about their adoption, and were not accidentally adopted on the same date and published in the same issue of the OJ of the EU. The adopted acts of the EU law in the social field are the logical final step in the multi-year progressive efforts for adequate coping with the many problems and challenges facing the internal market, incl. labour market, which became a reality in the second decade of the 21st century. Given the size of the normative content of both acts, their social and legal purpose and importance of labour law and social policy of the EU, it is necessary to analyse them separately. In the following lines, as part one of a more comprehensive study, will be presented the background and establishment of the European Labour Authority, as well as its legal characteristic – functions and bodies. The statement does not claim to be exhaustive – it marks the beginning of a study on the place and role of this new body in the ever-current EU social policy.

Standing out on the Margins: Using Dialogical Narrative Analysis to Explore Mental Health Student Nurse Identity Construction and Core Modules

Literature and experience suggest that student mental health nurses feel marginalised in core modules. A focus group was held to explore mental health nurse students’ experiences of whole cohort core modules in nursing. Students from a university in the North of England attended a one hour focus group followed by dialogical narrative analysis of transcripts. Stories of shared professional identity, marginal status, critical thinking, and practical application of theory were shared by the group. Greater presence of mental health stakeholders earlier in the programme and more applied field specific teaching offer a means to bolster professional identity in mental health nursing students.

The Risks and Benefits of National Stories

AbstractAuthoritarian nationalism is on the rise in many countries around the world, threatening liberal democracies. Many on the left rightly fear that any and all celebrations of national identities risk heightening these dangers. It is questionable, however, whether illiberal nationalism can be defeated politically without some reliance on progressive stories of national identity that advance themes of equality, freedom, and inclusion in ways that resonate with many of the traditions in which those whom progressives seek to mobilize have been raised.

The politics of pronouns: how Trump framed the ingroup in the 2016 presidential election

ABSTRACT Outgroup hostility and racialized language were the most important predictors of support for Trump in the 2016 election season. Some scholarship argues that outgroup hostility outweighs the importance of white ingroup attitudes. Using a mix-methods content analysis of Trump’s campaign speeches, this paper agrees that outgroup hostility was the primary rhetorical device used by Trump in his speeches in both the primary and general elections. This work goes further and examines how Trump’s rhetoric framed and constructed the ingroup using outgroup rhetoric to connect the two. We argue that immigration and refugees, specifically, were used by Trump as part of the identity story he told about the ingroup and what it means to be an ingroup member. Our contribution rests on the correlation between hostile outgroup rhetoric—especially towards immigrants and refugees—to the framing and defining of the ingroup (through first-person plural pronouns). Further, we connect this rhetorical device to questions about what is at stake for the ingroup (i.e., power). We highlight a rhetorical mechanism that helps explain how hostile outgroup rhetoric is linked to ingroup framing, a contribution that adds to the literature on this topic.

“My parents are pretty pleased with my maths”: students’ navigation of identity stories about mathematics

ABSTRACT Although it is assumed that parents influence their children’s lives, little is known about how students navigate between their own expectations and their parents’ views of mathematics and how this navigation affects mathematical learning. Using an exemplary case of Philip, we illustrate how he made sense of his father’s high expectations related to his engagement with mathematics. There were three tensions evident in Philip’s stories about mathematics related to these expectations: the utility of mathematics for his future career; his expectations of doing well in mathematics; and the value of mathematics teachers. The results, elaborated on by the perspectives of the other students in Philip’s Year 10 class, shed light on the complexity and fluidity of secondary school students’ identities, in relationship to their mathematical engagement.

“The Strengths of Our Community and Our Culture”

While cultural continuity has been identified as an important Indigenous determinant of health, there is limited qualitative research that has sought to understand the meaning and context of cultural continuity for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people in Canada. Specifically, despite reported disparities in mental health for the Métis population in British Columbia (BC) and elsewhere—as well as challenges that many Métis people face in maintaining cultural connectedness—cultural continuity research with Métis communities remains largely ignored. This qualitative study explores Métis people’s experiences and conceptualizations of mental health and cultural continuity through conversational interviews, analyzed to understand the overarching themes within a Métis worldview. From this analysis, three themes are presented within the scope of this paper: Métis stories of culture, identity, and mental health; the importance of community; and intergenerational knowledge transmission. This research speaks to the important role that cultural continuity plays in shaping Métis journeys with mental health. There is a need for continued support for the maintenance of Métis cultural practices, language revitalization, and Elder-youth engagement opportunities for increased cultural continuity for Métis people, families, and communities in BC.

Italian Identities – Stories and Memories of the Community

The definition of Cultural Worker has changed over the years, and today this definition coincides mainly with historians and researchers of Community Life.With the project “Italian Identities - Stories and Memories of a Community” we want to undertake an action of shared responsibility necessary to overcome the negative effects of the pandemic. The aim, therefore, is not simply the realization of an audio-visual product (documentary), but to redefine and enhance the life of the Community and the ability to educate with concrete examples.In this way it becomes easier to write the script of a documentary that investigates the historical, cultural and anthropological aspects of a community.We want to achieve two main objectives. First of all, we aim to enhance the popular tradition of oral storytelling, creating a story of identity that puts citizens at the centre. Secondly, we aim to show and talk about the places where the community meets, such as social clubs and voluntary associations.The project will combine stories of yesterday and today, producing an exchange of empathy that goes beyond time, geographical boundaries and generations. The words will become a moment of encounter between history and contemporaneity. The words, but also the faces and expressions that, as an intangible universal language, allow us to glimpse the infinite horizon of emotional exchange within a community and the roots of its origin.

From Buddhist Story to Heroic Epic: A Comparative Study of the Epic of Geser and the Mulian Story

This paper compares narrative modification in the Mongolian heroic epic The Epic of Geser with that of the Buddhist Mulian story. The Mulian story, in which the protagonist saves his mother from the underworld gained widespread popularity in its time. Mulian Bianwen from the Tang dynasty, presents the scenes from the story in a very dramatic manner. The Mongolian Geser epic uses this motif but adapts the story to fit the characteristics of a heroic epic for nomadic people. Heroic epics must contain motifs that depict the image of their protagonist to present a collection of exemplary characters. To create a complete heroic epic, the story of Geser absorbed a religious story from another culture that was very popular at the time. In the present study, five scenes common to The Epic of Geser and the Mulian story are analysed to investigate how the original Buddhist story became a part of the heroic epic. This analysis considers the ways in which identical story motifs can be used for the different purposes according to the nature of the literary work.

How an Interdisciplinary Approach to Narrative Can Support Policymaking on Migration and Integration at the City Level

Narrative change and strategic communications are attractive tools for city officials setting policy for integration and migration. These tools allow for the construction and development of shared stories of place-based identity and belonging. Stories about migration often focus on (border) control, the value of the contribution of migrants, and the need for compassion. However, these frames of compassion and control are often oppositional: they can alienate rather than persuade, and they can neglect constituents whose views do not align with the polarities. They also elide other narrative frames, which may appeal to broader groups, particularly those focused on integration and belonging. This article analyzes three cities’ attempts at narrative change strategies that complexify migration narratives with place-based narratives of inclusion. From these case studies, this article identifies practical implications for local policy-makers and sets an interdisciplinary agenda for future research.

Silent revelations in Trade Queen

Six years since its release, the main reveal of David Wagner’s Trade Queen is no longer socioculturally sensational given how drag culture has been integrated into mainstream media. The dialogue-less film, nonetheless, artfully delivers a nuanced story of identity, tension between one’s exterior and interior, between what happens in the compartmentalized nine-to-five and after-hours self-states. It raises the question of gender performativity through subtle looks and gestures – how Mr Schmidt and Mr Jonas navigate their complex relationship.

The Effects of Immersive Virtual Reality in Reducing Public Stigma of Mental Illness in the University Population of Hong Kong: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundPublic stigma in mental health often brings various adverse effects on people with mental illness. Researchers have been developing different interventions in combating public stigma.ObjectiveThis study investigates the effects of immersive virtual reality (IVR) in reducing the public stigma of mental illness using a single-blinded randomized control trial.MethodsA pre-post experimental design with a 1-week follow-up was conducted. Participants (N=206) were recruited through the mass mail system of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and randomized into 3 conditions: immersive animation, text, and control. In the immersive animation condition (n=72), participants experienced the simulation of daily life and the stigma experienced as an animated story protagonist with mixed anxiety and depressive disorder with IVR. In the text condition (n=65), participants experienced an identical story to the immersive animation condition with first-person audio narration using the same virtual reality headset. In the control condition (n=69), participants watched a video about planets with IVR. All participants received interventions with a researcher-assisted Oculus Go virtual reality headset. Participants’ public stigma was measured through self-administered online questionnaires and compared across conditions and at different time points using repeated measures analysis of variance. Simple and sequential mediation analyses on the relationship of condition (immersive animation vs text) and follow-up public stigma with possible mediators, including sense of embodiment and story transportation, were conducted using PROCESS.ResultsPublic stigma did not differ significantly across conditions at pre-experiment (P>.99). In the immersive animation and text conditions, public stigma was significantly reduced at postexperiment and at the 1-week follow-up compared to pre-experiment (all with P<.001). Public stigma in the control condition at postexperiment and follow-up remained unchanged compared with pre-experiment (P=.69). Immersive animation had significantly lower public stigma than the control at postexperiment (P=.003) and follow-up (P=.02). Text also had lower public stigma than the control at postexperiment (P=.007) and follow-up (P=.03). However, immersive animation did not significantly differ from text in public stigma at postexperiment and follow-up (both P>.99). In simple mediation models, both sense of embodiment (95% CI –0.22 to 0.46) and story transportation (95% CI –0.18 to 0.00) were not significant mediators. In the sequential mediation model, both sense of embodiment and story transportation were significant sequential mediators. Sense of embodiment was positively associated with story transportation (P<.001), while story transportation was negatively associated with public stigma (P<.001). The indirect effect of the sequential mediation model was significant (95% CI –0.38 to –0.11).ConclusionsThis study provides novel findings and a rigorous comparison in understanding the effects of IVR on public stigma. The findings showed that IVR and text with audio narration performed similarly and significantly in stigma reduction. Sense of embodiment and story transportation were found to be sequentially associated with public stigma reduction.Trial RegistrationCentre for Clinical Research and Biostatistics Clinical Trial Registry CUHK_Ccrb00638; https://www2.ccrb.cuhk.edu.hk/registry/public/632

Bodies that Fester in the Holds of the “Coffin Ships”: Postcolonial Neo-Victorianism, Vulnerability and Resistance in Joseph O’Connor’s Star of the Sea (2003)

The presence of Empire in the Victorian period and its aftermath has become a new trope in neo-Victorian studies, introducing a postcolonial approach to the re-writing of the Victorian past. This, combined with the metaphor of the sea as a symbol of British colonial and postcolonial maritime power, makes of Joseph O’Connor’s novel Star of the Sea a story of love, vulnerability and identity. Set in the winter of 1847, it tells the story of the voyage of a group of Irish refugees travelling to New York trying to escape from the Famine. The colonial history of Ireland and its long tradition of English dominance becomes the setting of the characters’ fight for survival. Parallels with today’s refugees can be established after Ireland’s transformation into an immigration country. Following Judith Butler’s and Sarah Bracke’s notions of vulnerability and resistance together with ideas about ‘the other’ in postcolonial neo-Victorianism, this article aims to analyse the role of Empire in the construction of an Irish identity associated with poverty and disease, together with its re-emergence and reconstruction through healing in a contemporary globalised scenario. For this purpose, I resort to Edward Said’s and Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s ideas about imperialism and new imperialism along with Elizabeth Ho’s concept of ‘the Neo-Victorian-at-sea’ and some critics’ approaches to postcolonial Gothic. My main contention throughout the text will be that vulnerability in resistance can foster healing.

Audience interrogator: constructing meaning about mathematical learning experience in filmed research

ABSTRACT This paper argues that an Arts-Based Research (ABR) methodology, drawing on the Ethnofiction work of filmmaker Jean Rouch, can facilitate new ways of researching mathematics, science and education more generally by: (i) making past learning experiences more accessible and (ii) considering the affective engagement of the audience as interrogator of research to open up myriad understandings of research data. Here, dissemination and impact are positioned as ‘inside’ the research process, rather than ‘informed by’ or directed by the outcome of research. The paper discusses the research film Performatics: Performing stories of mathematical identity through filmed drama Performatics https://vimeo.com/147449932, and a scene which shows Claire (a postgraduate student studying quantitative analysis), in a scene entitled ‘Sum Anxiety’, as she dramatizes an experience from the secondary school mathematics classroom. A moment, which Claire expresses as pivotal in negatively affecting her as a mathematics learner; an experience still viscerally felt.

Reactions to the War as Identity Stories: Reflections of the Artists Aleksandr Brener, Alexey Kallima, Aslan Goisum on the Chechen War

The article examines the pieces of art by artists Alexander Brener (1990s), Alexey Kallima (2000s) and Aslan Goisum (2010s) and their reception by art criticism and the public as evidence of the reaction of Russian society to the Chechen war. The Chechen war was a significant factor in the life of Russia, but how did the society react to the war and what will be the memory of it? Today different groups of war participants have different rights to represent their experience in the public space, the war is mainly described by its witnesses and publicists, and in public discussions, the position of only some social groups takes root today. The community of contemporary artists and the viewers of contemporary art are perceived as mnemonic actors, and the question arises of who has the right to testify about the war in creation and perception of art works on Chechen war and how the position and identity of the witness affect the image of the war he creates. Artists' stories show how the right to the memory of the Chechen war is consolidated not as a duty of the whole society, but as a part of the identity of a particular author.

Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, &amp; Identity, by Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi New York: Tarcher Perigee, 2019. 390 pages, $19.01 (hardcover)

Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, &amp; Identity, by Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi New York: Tarcher Perigee, 2019. 390 pages, $19.01 (hardcover)

Literatura de no-ficción, animales y pandemia. El caso del libro “La vida de una vaca”

En el contexto de la actual pandemia del Covid-19, los medios de comunicación suelen bombardear con cifras de personas afectados por el virus, y esos números los acompañan con la identidad y las historias íntimas de algunos enfermos o fallecidos. Sin embargo, al analizar a los animales no humanos en torno a la pandemia, se sigue haciendo únicamente un enfoque general (a veces, sin siquiera distinguir especies). Si bien la literatura de no ficción se caracteriza por ponerle identidad y rostro a algunos fenómenos generales, prácticamente nunca le da identidad a los animales. El libro “La vida de una vaca” (primera edición en 2008 / última edición en 2020) es una de las pocas excepciones en que esto sí ocurre. El lector se enfrenta a un autor que compra una vaca en Argentina, le pone nombre, cuenta su vida en medios de comunicación de distintos países, y la sigue por varios años. La idea es usar este ejemplo para hablar de las nuevas formas narrativas de la no-ficción y de la cobertura mediática a los animales durante la pandemia.

Taking Root in Floating Cities – Space, Environment, and Immigrant Identity in Kerri Sakamoto’s Floating City

Abstract Human identity is shaped not only by culture, but also by nature – the environment in which people grow up and live, the places and spaces they visit, work in, and pass on an everyday basis. This people-place bond is particularly important in case of immigrants who are forced to abandon the places they know for a new – and often hostile – environment. This connection between space, environment, and immigrant identity is explored by Kerri Sakamoto, a Japanese-Canadian writer, in her newest novel, Floating City (2018). Focusing on the family narrative of the Hanesakas – and, in particular, the story of Frankie, the oldest son of the family – Sakamoto tells the story of shaping identity through forming a connection with the environment and architecture. The aim of this article is to discuss the way in which Sakamoto presents the people-place bond and its impact on immigrant identity as represented by the connection of the Japanese-Canadians with four elements: water, air, earth, and fire. Furthermore, the article analyses Sakamoto’s version of an alternative history of Toronto and the possible solutions to the current environmental crisis it brings. For this purpose, the author uses a mixture of methodological concepts stemming from postcolonial theory and environmental psychology, such as homing desire, rootlessness, place attachment, non-place, and the people-place bond.