Narratives Of Self Research Articles

Framing Agnes

Framing Agnes

Mobilizing Stories of Illness in Digital Contexts: A Critical Approach to Narrative, Voice, and Visibility

AbstractIllness stories have been celebrated as a resource for giving patients voice from the active position of the wounded storyteller. The proliferating research on illness stories, however, has often reproduced a reductionist approach to narrative as a window to subjective views and experiences based on a largely underdeveloped and essentialized notion of voice. Critics of the over-celebration of narrative have called for caution toward the use of personal stories, pointing to the need to situate constructions of the narrative self in their social, cultural, and political contexts. This article discusses a new type of illness stories that has emerged in digital contexts and that is characterized by the use of illness for producing various forms of economic and social value. Using small stories and affective positioning as its analytic lens, the article examines the specific case of story design, curation, and sharing of the COVID-19 diagnosis of actor Idris Elba in March 2020. As the article argues, the illness experience is mobilized in small stories online as a resource for authenticating the self in line with conventional modes of sharing, blurring the lines between the personal voice and the public visibility of storytelling. The article contributes to the critical study of the mobilization of stories in digital contexts.

Dissolution of What? The Self Lost in Self-transcendent Experiences

In this study, we investigate the phenomenology of selftranscendent experiences, in which the usual sense of self is lost. Based on a taxonomy of nine aspects of self and three types of content of consciousness, we compare ten accounts of such experiences acquired through in-depth interviews. Sense of separateness and identification with body and narrative self were reported as lost in all of these. However, bodily awareness, spatial self-location, sense of agency, perspectival ownership of experience, thoughts, emotions, sensory impressions, metacognition, and personal identity were variously reported as lost or retained. Individual participants emphasized the absence of either of these 'optional' aspects as crucial for their judgment that the experience was without self. We conclude that there is a large variety in what is felt as being lost in self-transcendent experiences, and we recommend that research and theory avoid general terms such as 'ego-dissolution' and instead probe more precisely the different aspects of self.

The “Territorial Self:” Theoretical Propositions for a Phenomenological Understanding of Schizophrenia

ObjectivesThis theoretical paper discusses the integration of a “territorial self” alongside the minimal and narrative selves most commonly described by contemporary phenomenology and used by phenomenological psychopathology. MethodsWe start from the schizophrenic experience and the tools for understanding it, in order to highlight some limitations in the use of vocal communication within the clinical system to evoke phenomena that are a priori pre-linguistic. ResultsThis theoretical path, which requires an openness to clinical observation and intersubjectivity, leads to nosographic and therapeutic implications that seem useful to us from a phenomenological perspective. DiscussionFrom a nosographic standpoint, we discuss the (non- systematic) crossovers between the schizophrenic experience and the psychotic experience; whereas, from a therapeutic standpoint, the proposal of the territorial self allows us to insist on the fact that the clinical relationship is characterized as much by an analysis of experience and a discussion about it as it is by a joint practice and an experiential experience requiring a common ground. ConclusionsThe “territorial self” proves to be a fruitful and heuristic theoretical proposal, enriching nosographic debates in the field of psychosis, and contributing to a reflection on the practice of psychotherapy.

Never Waking into Reality: Narrative Self in the Madhyamaka

Never Waking into Reality: Narrative Self in the Madhyamaka

Despair of Self: Strategies of Seeing and Becoming in Linn Ullmann'sDe urolige

Despair of Self: Strategies of Seeing and Becoming in Linn Ullmann's<i>De urolige</i>

Forget-me-not: Giving Voice to Memory in Mark Z. Danielewski's "The Familiar" and Elsa Morante's "La Storia"

Among the many, intertwining motifs spanning the volumes of Mark Z. Danielewski’s The Familiar, the repeated reference to forget-me-nots is not one that leaps off the page to the reader. Its presence in Xanther’s seizure in Volume 4: Hades speaks to larger notions of memory of tragedies such as the Armenian Genocide, or even the chronomosaic timelines present in Danielewski’s earlier novel, Only Revolutions. This paper, while exploring notions notions of memory through Adriana Cavarero’s theory of the narratable self, will argue that their root is in Elsa Morante’s 1974 novel La Storia, which centers on a Jewish mother and her son, both epileptic, in Rome during World War II. Yet, while both works utilize their characters’ epilepsy as a way to better acknowledge the suffering and tragedies occurring around them, Morante’s articulation of the crushing wheel of history differs from the more hopeful presentation Danielewski provides. Through her epilepsy, Xanther instead emerges as a character who highlights the importance of giving voice to others, especially those unable to speak for themselves.

We Are Not Always Tellers of Stories: On Things That Bother Me: Death, Freedom, the Self, Etc., by Galen Strawson

We Are Not Always Tellers of Stories:On Things That Bother Me: Death, Freedom, the Self, Etc., by Galen Strawson Matthew Cheeseman (bio), Nick Tanner (bio), and Sam Spedding (bio) Things That Bother Me: Death, Freedom, the Self, etc., by Galen Strawson. New York Review Books, 2018. ISBN: 978-1-68137-220-4. $17.95/ £11.99. Galen Strawson is best known for his work on free will, particularly the "basic argument," in which he demonstrates four steps that render free will impossible. Things That Bother Me is a rattle-bag of philosophical essays—many of which have been published before in different formats, or delivered as lectures—that have been edited and tied up into one collection. In it Strawson addresses free will, the future after death, moral responsibility, and the fallacy of the narrative sense of self. He also, intriguingly, eschews the idea that physical science might one day deliver a final explanation of consciousness (and he does this en route to arguing for panpsychism). This might sound like the kind of publication that could sit glowering at you from your bookshelf until one morning, girded with a good night's sleep and mug of black coffee, you feel brave enough to pit your mind against it. However, Strawson's concision, wit, and often surprising openness might make you read through in one sitting to the final essay, a vivid and sensual autobiographical [End Page 153] demonstration of his own lack of any sense of the narrative self. In fact, the arrangement of the book as a whole is also mimetic of this quality while crystallizing his clear, strong authorial voice. In terms of storytelling, Strawson's work on the self and narrative is of interest. Over the course of the book, and one chapter in particular ("A Fallacy of Our Age") Strawson takes issue with what he terms the Psychological Narrativity Thesis, which others would recognize as the narrative turn as expounded by psychologists such as Jerome Bruner and Oliver Sacks, joined by a "vast chorus of assent" from the humanities in general. Writers working in disciplines that range from literary studies to political theory (and no doubt storytelling) tend to agree on the basic premise, that "human beings typically experience their lives as a narrative or story of some sort, or at least as a collection of stories" (45). This is often further coupled with the ethical claim that a narrative approach to life is important to one's health and identity. Arguing from his own experience, Strawson takes issue. He suggests that there are two modes of experiencing the self, which he terms "endurant" and "transient." The first is the norm for most people, that "naturally figures oneself, considered as a self, as something that was there in the (further) past and will be there in the (further) future." A transient, by contrast, "doesn't figure oneself, considered as a self, as something that was there in the (further) past and will be there in the (further) future, although one is perfectly well aware that one has long-term continuity considered as a whole human being." Culture and learning, of course, account for much of how we experience time, but Strawson underlines his chief proposition, that there is "deep individual variation in psychological timestyle" (48–49). Before any "endurers" reading this reject the proposition outright, it seems sensible to at least one of the writers of this review, in that they recognize their own experience in Strawson's descriptions of the transient character. What might such a life feel like? As you may suspect: "I have absolutely no sense of my life as a narrative with form, or indeed as a narrative without form … nor do I have a great deal of concern for my future" (51). That is not to say that transients don't have memories, ambitions, or motivations, but that transients do not tie them to abiding or projected notions of the self. If this is all sounding a little alien or cold, then according to Strawson at least, you might be an endurer and you might be disturbed at having your innate view of the self and time being questioned. Indeed...

“Middle‐aged Old Mothers” in China: Childrearing Anxiety, Humor, and the Narrative Self

AbstractWith the rise of hyper education in contemporary China, the phrase “middle‐aged old mother” has become an important narrative identity for mothers over 30 in the urban middle class. Based on ethnographic and virtual fieldwork from 2018 to 2020, this paper weaves together interviews, observation, and social media data to examine mothers’ moral experience of childrearing anxiety in Beijing. This article goes beyond the surface content of “middle‐aged old mother” narratives and instead highlights the narrative context, style, intention, and effect. It aims to understand their first‐person narratives of parenting characterized by heightened uncertainty, high stakes, self‐reflexivity, and gender inequalities. The “middle‐aged old mother” script provides a template for and becomes the “co‐author” of Chinese mothers’ auto‐narratives: It blends self‐mockery, personal story, and social critique in an environment of intensifying competition and moral quandaries. The term is a deliberate act of humor and an invitation for empathy.

Extended Self and Identity over Time

In this paper, we discuss the Extended Self Hypothesis proposed by Andy Clark and David Chalmers, and address the objection that the extended self lacks stability and continuity needed to be considered identical over time. We try to show that such an objection is untenable. We also discuss the view according to which another type of self, i.e., the narrative self, can also be seen as extended, and argue that stability and continuity of this type of self is also not threatened by its extension beyond the boundaries of person’s body. Hence, at least as far as these types of self are concerned, there is no need to confine ourselves to the internalized self when thinking about the problems of personal identity.

KATASTROPHENSZENARIEN IN KATHRIN RÖGGLAS DIE ALARMBEREITEN

The paper delves into how Kathrin Röggla, an Austrian author, approaches the problem of tackling the topic of catastrophe in her book die alarmbereiten published in 2010. Röggla, nowadays considered one of the most socially committed and engage authors in Germany’s contemporary literature domain, deals relentlessly with such issues as crisis, catastrophe, alarmism and fear in modern-day society. The media occupies one of the most pivotal roles in this process. What all three chapters of the book have in common is that each of them deals with a different problem: potential natural disasters that do not occur, death due to fire or panic fear caused by climate change, and the great economic crisis. All these topics, as well as a number of others, which are discussed in other chapters, are anticipated by the prophetic words from the beginning of the first chapter. From the aspect of the way of narration in the analyzed chapters, consistent writing in lower case is noticeable, the use of conjunctives, narrative self, but narrative self which never narrates in its own name, i.e., it is never directly announced, but his words are transposed through someone else's perspective, or through the perspective of a friend or through the perspective of a student. Also, a different media aspect was applied in all three chapters: in the first they were sessions, in the second a telephone conversation, and in the third a seminar / class. What all the figures have in common is that they are not typical figures, they do not have any personal identity, but are actually voices that indicate certain problems in society. A small number of voices appear, usually two, so the author simulates a speech situation, which is actually absent because that speech situation is reduced to a monologue of one of the voices. The texts are also characterized by the disappearance of figures, which is noticeable in all three texts. Together with all the analyzed chapters, a tragic end was realized or hinted at, in the second explicitly a fatal outcome. In all three scenarios, the figures are both / or observers and / or victims, as the author pointed out in her poetic texts. In this way, it points to the image of the society in which we live.

Mapping tropicality in the masculinities and femininities of global Singapore in Crazy Rich Asians

The blockbuster film based on the acclaimed novel Crazy Rich Asians provides an alternative representational space to examine how masculinities, femininities, Chinese ethnicity and networks of economic power feature in the reproduction of the gendered body-in-space and body-as-space. In the reproduction of the gendered body in cartographic space, it is argued that in the film, the projection of temperate qualities avoids incorporation of Singapore’s natural environment into identity narratives of self. This resonates with wider debates about the state’s masculinist ambition to ensure the longevity of the country’s living standards, advanced economy and cultural products found only in the temperate world. In the reproduction of the temperate body-as-space in the tropics, the femininity of the strong mother and weak wife is embodied in food preparation processes which enact gendered boundaries that simultaneously ‘speak’ class and ethnicity by way of arousing feelings inside the body.

Classic Psychedelic Drugs: Update on Biological Mechanisms

Renewed interest in the effects of psychedelics in the treatment of psychiatric disorders warrants a better understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effects of these substances. During the past two decades, state-of-the-art studies of animals and humans have yielded new important insights into the molecular, cellular, and systems-level actions of psychedelic drugs. These efforts have revealed that psychedelics affect primarily serotonergic receptor subtypes located in cortico-thalamic and cortico-cortical feedback circuits of information processing. Psychedelic drugs modulate excitatory-inhibitory balance in these circuits and can participate in neuroplasticity within brain structures critical for the integration of information relevant to sensation, cognition, emotions, and the narrative of self. Neuroimaging studies showed that characteristic dimensions of the psychedelic experience obtained through subjective questionnaires as well as alterations in self-referential processing and emotion regulation obtained through neuropsychological tasks are associated with distinct changes in brain activity and connectivity patterns at multiple-system levels. These recent results suggest that changes in self-experience, emotional processing, and social cognition may contribute to the potential therapeutic effects of psychedelics.

The Metaphysics of the Narrative Self

AbstractThis essay develops a theory of identities, selves, and ‘the self’ that both explains the sense in which selves are narratively constituted and also explains how the self relates to a person's individual autobiographical identity and to their various social identities. I argue that identities are the contents of narratively structured representations, some of which are hosted individually and are autobiographical in form, and others of which are hosted collectively and are biographical in form. These identities, in turn, give rise to selves of various sorts—true selves, autobiographical selves, public and private selves, merely possible selves, and so on—which are the characters (or presupposed subjects) that appear in our various identities. Although the theory I develop bears some obvious affinities with the view that selves are fictional characters, the two views are in fact distinct, for reasons explained at the end.

Michael White: marcos teóricos da Prática Narrativa

Post-modernity, narrative turn, constructivist and constructionist paradigms have opened various perspectives for the psychotherapeutic intervention. This study will highlight the theoretical knowledge that reinforces the Narrative Practice produced by David Epston and Michael White, with emphasis on the contribution of Michael White, an author who plans narrative co-construction between therapist and person in therapy. The Narrative Pratice is characterized for desconstruction of the saturated story, the narrative reconstruction and self reautoring through favorite stories basing on the experience of the person in therapy. The survey objective was to recognize, integrate and organize the diverse information dispersed throughout the Narrative Practice literature. It was performed a literature review emphasizing postmodernity characterization and Michael White’s dialogue with Bruner, Bateson, Foucault, Vygotsky, and Derrida. The method used was the bibliographic survey of books, articles, dissertations, and theses. The theoretical study may favor the therapist to create contexts conducive to change, which may contribute to the psychotherapeutic process.

Self, community, narrative in the information age

Narrative thinking has a significant role in the formation of the self and identity. In fact, to such an extent that the self is seen as the product of narrative thinking, a fictional character emerging at the intersection of autobiographical narratives. In this article, I investigate what effect the narrative interpretative schemes used in everyday communication have on our conceptualization of the self, on our self-image, while, I also intend to analyse what effect media narratives displaying intentions, beliefs and desires have on the narratives of self- and community construction of individuals in the information age. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that analyses like this can, in the long run, contribute to a great extent to the preparation of models and philosophical concepts targeting the description of the functioning and formation of narratives that capitalize on the shared cognitive structures of human motivational factors, goals, emotions and actions.

Eison, Monkan, and the cult of founders in medieval Japan: on the construction of narrative and material selves in East Asian Buddhism

ABSTRACT This article addresses the viability of constructions of a narrative self in light of the Buddhist doctrine of no-self by examining Eison (or Eizon; 1201–90), founder of the Shingon Ritsu movement; his grand-disciple Monkan (1278–1357); and their involvement in the cult of founders in medieval Japan. The article begins by briefly establishing Eison and Monkan’s significance, then looks at Steven Collins’s distinction between systematic and narrative thought in Pali Buddhism. I suggest that this distinction helps clarify the relationship between the self of narrativity and of conventional truth versus the no-self of ultimate truth in Buddhist traditions across times and regions. Then, using Eison, Monkan, and the medieval cult of founders as a case study, I argue that even among scholar-monks actively engaged in such systematic exposition as that related to notions of no-self, the exposition is embedded within a broader devotional framework in which tensions between no-self and a narrative self largely dissolve. I conclude by suggesting that notions of no-self posed little impediment to Eison and fellow monastics’ promotion of a cult of founders that glorifies particular narratively and materially constructed ‘selves.’

The immune self, hygiene and performative virtue in general public narratives on antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance.

This paper employs an assemblage lens to generate analyses of general public narratives on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Global efforts to reduce AMR include communications aiming to promote general public awareness, provide knowledge, encourage careful antibiotics use, and discourage demands for them. These efforts are somewhat compromised by the assumptions they make of individual lack of knowledge and motivation and the manner in which the AMR problem is framed in isolation from the biological, social and economic structures that produce it. Conceptualising AMR as an effect of antimicrobial assemblages of which publics are but one part, we analysed interviews with the general public on the lived experience of infections, antibiotic treatments and AMR. Far from science and policy discourse on AMR, these narratives showed antibiotics to be partly solutions to the social and biomedical challenges of infection, framed by self-defensive immunity and hygiene, the affective benefits of 'immune boosting', and the imperative to sustain the moral standing of the healthy citizen. Failing public awareness and action on AMR can be attributed to public health messages that overlook the social, affective and moral dimensions of infection care and separate AMR from its socio-economic drivers.

Healing Salves: Contingent Knowledge and Satisfying Surprises in Kiribati&lt;br /&gt; &amp;nbsp;

Through the creative analytic practice of autoethnography and systematic sociological introspection, the author engages the subjectivity of narrative self in relation to a story involving treatment by an indigenous healer in the Republic of Kiribati. Through the lens of narratology, existential introspection, and ethics the author informs the moving vantage of the present through reflection on the micro personal and macro socio-cultural educational processes that bear influence on the narration and perception of a lived experience in hindsight. Through storying and reflecting through these lenses, this process problematizes the present story, but also yields degrees of greater awareness. This process of systematic sociological introspection is framed by Freeman’s (1997) notion of narrative integrity. That is, through reflection and reframing of the past, the author hopes to focus upon the possibilities of wider metacognitive perspective for both himself and the reader in the future.

Constructing the Past: the Relevance of the Narrative Self in Modulating Episodic Memory

Episodic memories can no longer be seen as the re-activation of stored experiences but are the product of an intense construction process based on a memory trace. Episodic recall is a result of a process of scenario construction. If one accepts this generative framework of episodic memory, there is still a be big gap in understanding the role of the narrative self in shaping scenario construction. Some philosophers are in principle sceptic by claiming that a narrative self cannot be more than a causally inefficacious attributed entity anyway. Thus, we first characterize a narrative self in detail and second we clarify its influential causal role in shaping our episodic memories by influencing the process of scenario construction. This happens at three stages, namely at the level of the input, the output and the process of scenario construction.