Narrative Dimensions Research Articles

АВТОКОММУНИКАЦИЯ КАК КРИТИКА СОВРЕМЕННОГО ФИЛОСОФСКОГО ПСИХОАНАЛИЗА

Contemporary philosophical psychoanalysis is increasingly turning to mythological stories in order to explain the phenomenon of autocommunication as a constant loss of self and encounter with self. The relevance of the article is determined by the complex superimposition of such mythological plots, requiring the involvement of certain interdisciplinary instruments of analysis in philosophical research. In the Lacanian tradition of psychoanalysis, we suggest that the story of Eurydice serves to explain Dora’s case and substantiates the autocommunicative core of experience. This plot allowed us to criticize both positivist and economic (investment, fetishism) aspects of classical psychoanalysis and to show the epistemological potential of autocommunication as overcoming the totality of the uncanny and returning «to one’s home». The aim of the article is to investigate the epistemological potential of autocommunication, to which psychoanalysis gives a narrative dimension, and the modern philosophy of the self and the alien – an axiological meaning; the task is to clarify, using the example of the newest psychoanalysis’ work with the uncanny, the limits of autocommunication as a mechanism of both seduction (Sirens) and the return of all participants of future communication to themselves (their own mind). The main method of the study was a metacritique of psychoanalysis from the perspective of general notions of the structure of experience and encounter with the other across generations. The main results of the study are that, contrary to the models of the uncanny as fear of encountering oneself or one’s place in the world, another understanding of the uncanny is possible as a choice that all people face in the continuation of the human race. In this case, the happiness of continuation of the species or creative self-realization overcomes the initial impulses of creative temptations, turning reasoning alone with oneself into a mirror of communication with others that has already taken place. The newness consists in the fact that the paper solved the main contradiction of the theory of autocommunication, which is divided into two parts: the illusion of the desire to communicate and the imperative encounter with one’s speech as a stranger, creating a situation of joint communication. It has been shown that, contrary to the common view in philosophy, this joint communication is socially determined and not at all an extension of the internal topology or structure of thought. The contradiction can be resolved by adopting the concept of «the gift of time» (Derrida), which overcomes the antinomy of exchange and gift. Directions for further research on the basis of this work imply the development of a consistent theory of autocommunication that does not reduce it to individual cases of finding the self or postulating the other and that takes into account the social framework of any communication.

Historical Contexts, Literary Voices: Exploring Resistance and Marginalized Narratives in Hemingway's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' through a New Historicist Framework

Ernest Hemingway, celebrated for his prowess as both a journalist and literary artist, demonstrates a profound engagement with diverse societal strata and narrative dimensions in his works. This abstract explores Hemingway's thematic exploration of war, particularly within the Spanish landscapes of "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "A Farewell to Arms," highlighting the transcendence of national identity. Employing a New Historicist perspective, the deconstruction of Hemingway's narratives reveals the transformative potential of this critical approach in amplifying diverse voices. Despite his American origins, Hemingway's depiction of Spain goes beyond geographical boundaries, encapsulating universal narratives while providing a platform for marginalized voices. In "For Whom the Bell Tolls," Hemingway strategically incorporates supporting characters to amplify the voices of the marginalized, emphasizing an inclusive ethos aligned with New Historicism. The novel becomes a conduit for multiplicity, illustrating the traumatic repercussions of war on the human psyche. Hemingway, viewed through the lens of New Historicism, emerges as a custodian of war writing, constructing a framework that elucidates power structures and oppressive regimes. The metaphor of 'Alluvial soil' symbolizes the dynamic and evolving nature of historical narratives, promoting an acknowledgment of history as inherently multi-narrative. This paradigm shift encourages the acceptance that history is subjective and contributes to the cultivation of a transformative space for societal and cultural progress. Ultimately, Hemingway's narrative craftsmanship, interpreted through New Historicism, extends beyond literary exploration, evolving into a critical discourse that shapes collective consciousness and fosters societal transformation.

The Machine of Power:The Dystopian World in Death in the Shellby Agop Melkonyan and The Squares of the City by John Brunner

The current text’s purpose is to compare the two novels mentioned in the article’s title, so it could examinesome differences and some similarities in creating a fictional world, while emphasizing on the political dimensions of a dystopian narrative. The machine of power is a metaphor used in both novels, whichare also comparable in their intention to show general mechanisms that take place within similar political regimes.

"Time’s a trap" ou la notion de perspective dans Les Mille et une nuits et The Handmaid’s Tale

“Time's a trap”: the Poetics of Perspective in The Arabian Nightsand The Handmaid’s TaleThe essay analyses the dystopian dimension of the framing narrative of the Arabian Nightsthrough the lens of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, reexamining the heroines’agency regarding the spatial, temporal and subversive perspectives. It explores the pattern of the night and raises the question of the heroines’ social position and subjectivity through narrative choices and enunciative strategy deployed.

The de-perimeterisation of information security: The Jericho Forum, zero trust, and narrativity.

This article analyses the transformation of information security induced by the Jericho Forum, a group of security professionals who argued for a new 'de-perimeterised' security model. Having focused on defensive perimeters around networks, early 2000s information security faced a growing set of pressures: the maintainability of firewalls given increasing traffic volume and variety, the vulnerability of interior network domains, and the need to cope with and enable new working arrangements and ways of doing business. De-perimeterisation was a radical rethinking of the nature of security and created the conditions for the rise of 'Zero Trust' architectures. This shift has radical implications for the architectures of digital infrastructures that undergird many aspects of contemporary life, the risks to which people and societies are exposed, and the nature of work and business in a digital economy. We develop a semiotic analysis of the Jericho Forum's interventions. Using insights from material semiotics, security theory and the theory of narrativity, we argue that de-perimeterisation can be understood as a shift in security logic, or, a shift in how security can (be made to) make sense. We examine a cluster of images used by the Jericho Forum, and analyse how they challenged the coherence of perimeter-based thinking and provided the materials for constructing a new model. We argue that a focus on the narrative dimension of security provides a window into fundamental semantic transformations, reciprocal historical relations between semantics and technical change, the agencement of security technologies, and determinations of value (what is worth securing).

Philip and the Nubian Official: Dimensions of Text and Narrative

The encounter between Philip the deacon/evangelist and the Nubian official in Acts 8 has garnered much scholarly attention in recent decades. Numerous articles and monographs have explored issues of gender, race, and ethnicity in this pericope. This study takes a different tack by focusing on several textual issues as well as exploring unique narratival features adopted by Luke. Each character is developed within his individual trajectory in the account. After evangelizing in Samaria, Philip is directed to travel from Jerusalem along the road to Gaza. There he has a dramatic meeting with a man from Africa. Luke introduces him by using a character introduction formula adapted from the introduction of Potiphar in Genesis 39. The seven features of the formula are discussed seriatim. It is argued that understanding this formula’s use is key to interpreting the identity of the African man. He is deemed to be a circumcised Jewish man, a treasury official serving the Kandake of Nubia, not a eunuch from Ethiopia. After the Nubian official learns that Isaiah’s suffering servant is to be identified with Jesus, he believes and is baptized by Philip. The article provides a fresh reading that hopefully will advance discussion of why Luke placed this pivotal, divinely orchestrated meeting in Acts.

Dueling Roles in Dual Language Education: Exploring Leader Identity Development in Dual Language Strands

Purpose: Building on research in educational leadership, dual language leadership, and leader identity development, this study examines how principals of schools with dual language immersion (DLI) strands perceive and enact their leadership roles and identities. As DLI strands proliferate in schools and districts, this research contributes to understandings of principals’ leader identities as they implement these programs. Research Methods/Approach: We used an embedded single case study design, with the phenomenon of Indiana school leadership in DLI strands as the case and principals as the embedded units of analysis, and we conducted semistructured interviews with over 80% of Indiana DLI strand principals ( n = 26). We conceptualized this as a single case, due to the common policy context of state legislation related to DLI and school choice. Findings: The DLI strand principals described their leadership work through primarily instructional and distributed leadership dimensions, drawing upon their historic, epistemic, and political understandings of their roles. Principals draw less upon the emotional and narrative dimensions of their leader identities, which are more apparent in teacher identity literatures. Implications for Research and Practice: Principals of new DLI strands often have limited expertise related to DLI models and have not considered how their roles should accommodate leading “two schools in one.” We provide recommendations for both practitioners and researchers in leadership preparation to encourage school leaders’ deeper engagement in reflective work across the dimensions of leader identity development. We furnish a matrix of questions to guide this work.

Ricoeur between Ithaca and the isle of the Phaecians

The aim of this contribution is to critically engage with the ricoeurian reading of the topic of recognition in the Homeric poem Odyssey. The hypothesis presented here is that the ricoeurian reading shows only one side of the coin, since it is almost solely focused on the recognition received by Ulysses when he comes back to Ithaca incognito. Ricoeur stresses the unilaterality of recognition, which is only directed to re‑establish Ulysses’ power as king. Being recognized as the king of Ithaca does not imply, so Ricoeur’s argument goes, to recognize those who are subjected to him, and is a mere way of exhibiting power. But there is another possible reading of the scenes of recognition in the Odyssey, even if Ricoeur does not take them into account. Indeed, another moment of the recognition story can be found in the Isle of the Phaeacians, and it cannot be traced back to the “will to power”, but, rather, to Ulysses’s fragility. When Demodocus, the poet at the court of the king Alcinoos, starts singing the story of the famous hero Ulysses, who is there incognito, Ulysses cannot hold back his tears, and in the end he discloses his own identity. Here, Ulysses does not look for recognition, instead recognition is granted to him in an unexpected way. This act of recognition reveals all the fragility of the hero, who discovers himself in the words of others, and understands that he depends upon them to be, to exist, and, in the end, to come back home. This sort of “recognition by fragility” is possible due to a narrative dimension where Ulysses is hosted, and whose configurative and refigurative power makes the hero able to name his feeling as a feeling of “nostalgia”.

Heritage ambivalences: the aesthetics of fictionalised pasts in Roca Barea’s Imperiofobia

ABSTRACT Roca Barea’s Imperiofobia y Leyenda Negra (Empirephobia and Black Legend) has been a bestseller in Spain since it was published in 2016. However, this historical essay has also provoked intense controversy regarding the veracity of data presented and the ambivalence, or even incoherence, of its arguments. This article analyses Imperiofobia from a different point of view: as a heritage product with a strong narrative dimension. A heritage product can enable an individual story to be inserted into a collective mythological narrative, as in the case of this book. Imperiofobia encourages the reader to become involved in an epic war against the enemies of empires, as well as against the enemies of Spain (mainly the eurozone’s most powerful countries and progressive or left-wing intellectuals). This involvement dimension is essential to understand how, in general, ambivalent and even incoherent narratives about the past can be functional in socio-political dynamics.

Non serviam: Narrative dimensions of organized crime resistance and susceptibility

This study delves into the narrative criminological facets of Agnew's (2016) four-factor theory on crime resistance and susceptibility, particularly within the realm of organized crime. Drawing insights from thirty-two interviews with college students and other young adults residing in a Mafia-influenced area, the study observes that the four inducements to crime—Negativity, Pleasure and Sensation Seeking, Conventional Efficacy and Perceived Social Support, and Environmental Sensitivity—also manifest as narratives that inspire or induce a resistance to an affiliation with organized crime. Nevertheless, the distinct nuances of narrative criminology and the unique characteristics of organized crime reveal additional influencing factors. Cultural and discursive narrative themes, such as Familism, Opportunities and Careerism, and Ambiguities and Contradictions, highlight the capacity of narrative criminology to unearth dimensions and interpretations often overlooked by more traditional methodologies. Given these considerations, this study represents the inaugural endeavor to integrate narrative criminology within a formal theory of crime resistance and susceptibility.

Toward a multimodal and continuous approach of infant-adult interactions

AbstractAdult-infant early dyadic interactions have been extensively explored by developmental psychologists. Around the age of 2 months, infants already demonstrate complex, delicate and very sensitive behaviors that seem to express their ability to interact and share emotions with their caregivers. This paper presents 3 pilot studies of parent-infant dyadic interaction in various set-ups. The first two present longitudinal data collected on two infants aged between 1 and 6 months and their mothers. We analyzed the development of coordination between them, at the motor and at the vocal level. The 3rd pilot study aims to explore interpersonal coordination in both vocal behavior and motor activity for one infant and his mother at 2, 4 and 6 months. These pilot studies however leave a number of questions open concerning developmental changes and infants’ progressive mastery of interaction. We identify areas worth examining and try to tease out specific issues that may help develop new methodological pathways for the study of early naturalistic social interaction. We assume that a continuous, rather than discrete, approach would better capture the changes taking place in the various communicative modalities, while also displaying each dyad’s specificity and the narrative dimension of social engagement between infants and caregivers.

The dragon’s AR: Narrative augmentation in Russell’s The Dragon Defenders

The use of augmented reality (AR) in literature has predominantly focused on providing instructional tools for educators and learners, emphasizing its capacity of enhancing engagement and supporting immersive learning. Aside from its central literacy purpose, AR in children’s literature appears in the form of digital pop-up books or as add-on games, which are usually located outside of the main narrative. In this sense, AR risks disrupting the flow of a story instead of enriching the continuous imaginative space of the narrative. The Dragon Defenders series, by James Russell, uses AR as a narrative tool in ways previously unseen in children’s literature. Russell puts the reader into the shoes of his main characters, Paddy and Flynn, using AR to show the reader what the boys themselves see. There are moments in these books where the AR system and traditional narrative system fully overlap, integrate and enhance the narrative dimension of the story. While readers navigate through the book by turning physical pages, the addition of AR at specific moments in the story not only provides a more immersive reading experience but, in this case, advances the narrative to great effect. This case study asks how AR can be used to enhance the narrative structure and flow in a text-based novel, using formal gameplay analysis to examine how the AR and narrative systems interact and identifying which examples of this interaction work to the best effect. It analyses the AR moments in the context of the book, deconstructs the unusual first-person perspective from the protagonist’s point of view and explores how these AR experiences help drive and truly augment the core narrative. The larger context of this study seeks to emancipate AR from its predominantly technological ontology and contribute to the development of AR as a genuine narrative device in fiction storytelling.

The Creative evolution of children's and adolescents' nonfiction literature. An international perspective

In the field of publishing for children and adolescents, nonfiction literature has not only flourished, but is experiencing a golden age of creativity and reader interest. Today's nonfiction literature moves beyond the boundaries of traditional popular literature in terms of writing methods, content, purpose, and target audience, informing and engaging young readers through the use of a narrative dimension. Authors and illustrators of nonfiction children's books share historical information, scientific processes, and portray marginalized and minority communities, offering models of active learning. This study examines emerging trends in nonfiction through a narrative literature review and investigates the main changes observed in the variety of topics, storytelling techniques, and the use of visual elements in nonfiction children's books over the period 2013-2022. At the same time, it attempts to highlight how these developments reflect a cultural shift towards inclusivity and social awareness

The Effectiveness of Narrative Therapy in Reducing Work Pressure and Improving Health Behavior Among Anesthesia Clinical Frontline Nurses.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of narrative therapy in reducing work pressure and improving health behavior among clinical and anesthesia frontline nurses. Methods: We used convenience sampling to select clinical and anesthesiology department nurses from hospitals between May 2019 and May 2021. We used a nursing knowledge-attitude-behavior questionnaire to assess the status of nurses and assess the effectiveness of the narrative therapy intervention. We analyzed our data using SPSS and Smart PLS. Results: We found statistically significant differences in scores on the Competence Scale (NCS) and the Nursing Caring Characters Assessment Tool (NCCAT) (p<.05). The average scores of items in each dimension of clinical and anesthesiology department narrative nursing knowledge and behavior were: knowledge score (3.67±0.52), attitude score (5.48±0.62), and behavior score (4.74±0.77). Conclusion: The ADDIE-based narrative nursing training program improved nurses' narrative nursing ability and humanistic care quality, reducing work pressure and promoting health behavior. These findings highlight the importance of narrative therapy in clinical practice for frontline nurses.

Repression and Resistance in Fatima Bhutto’s The Shadow of the Crescent Moon

This paper aims at discovering factors that play vital role in the alienation and marginalization of masses by ‘State Apparatuses’ that not only compel them to show unwavering obedience to state but also force them to sacrifice their right to freedom and will. It will spotlight some modes in which suppressed people resist against state apparatuses in order to secure their freedom. The aim of this research is to provide a platform to those silent voices or lost groups which have never been represented in the state narratives. Discussing the socio-political scenario of Federally Administrated Tribal Area, this work speaks the unspeakable things via deconstructing the bitter facts about the particular region: Mir Ali. Bhutto’s The Shadow of the Crescent Moon challenges the mainstream narratives where the third world nations either have no representation or a negative presentation. Giving the voice to the voiceless, Bhutto’s fiction explicitly describes the narrative of the masses of FATA because, before that, we have only one dimension of narrative that is state’s narrative. For useful exploration and analysis, the idea of ‘repression and resistance’ will be discussed with reference to Louis Althusser’s ‘Ideology of State Apparatus’. For this purpose the primary text shall be deconstructed at all levels.

When the political leader is the narrator: the political and policy dimensions of narratives

There is increasing interest in the role of narratives in policy-making, as evidenced by the consolidation of the Narrative Policy Framework, a theory of the policy process whose overall aim is to explain how policy narratives influence policy outcomes. However, with the focus on only policy narratives, there is a risk of underestimating the relationship between the policy dynamics in a specific subsystem and the pursuit of consent in the political arena. To attract more scholarly attention to this relationship, this paper distinguishes between two types of narratives—the political narrative and the policy narrative. It focuses on how political leaders address the trade-off between the content of their political and policy narratives, not only adding analytical and theoretical leverage to the Narrative Policy Framework but also providing a fine-grained comprehension of the multilayered dynamics of narratives in politics. Our main assumption is that political leaders continuously address relationships and the eventual trade-off between their political narratives (the stories through which they shape the preferences of public opinion by proposing their general political vision) and their policy narratives (the stories they tell to shape the policy process and its outputs). The way leaders decide between these trade-offs can make a significant difference in terms of political and policy outputs. We test this assumption with a comparison of the use of narratives by the same political leader in labour and education policies in Italy.

“UNRELIABLE NARRATOR”, OR UNRELIABLE AUTHOR? THE QUESTION OF NARRATIVE (UN)RELIABILITY IN HISTORICAL NARRATIVES

The narratological category of an unreliable narrator has the potential to serve as a functional conceptual tool that can aid in capturing certain otherwise hidden dimensions of specific historical narratives. What has to be emphasized when using the tools of narrative analysis for this purpose, however, is the different nature of factual stories. While unreliable narration in fiction is often defined as a conscious, purposeful and, most importantly, intentional distortion of the story that may serve the author’s problematization of documentary “truth”, factual texts are most often not unreliable in the same sense. They may be misleading, incomplete, distorting or insufficiently critical to the reality they strive to recon-struct, but these defects do not have to be intentional. Given the fact that the narratological category of an unreli¬able narrator has so far been theorized primarily in the context of fiction or, eventu¬ally, histori¬cal novels, the paper synthe-sizes the available knowledge in the field of narratology and looks at historical narratives of a factual nature in both lit-erature and film. It seeks to provide a com¬pact, yet comprehensive picture of the studied issue and point out the leading problems associated with the credibility of stories about the past, but also sets to exam¬ine the possibility of their critical evalua¬tion by the recipients. In this way, the paper empha¬sizes the very specific position of historical texts in literary studies and takes an inter¬est in the possibility of using narratological tools, such as the unreliable narrator or the im¬plied author, beyond fiction.

“That Day Does Not Belong to Our Generation”: Komatsu Sakyō’s Affective Futurities

Commentary that observes the frequency of the appearances of images of disaster pervades much of the discourse surrounding postwar Japanese popular culture, and especially Japanese science fiction. Against such approaches, I argue that it is more productive to read these narratives of disaster through the critical lens of the genre’s engagement with the problem of futurity. My contention then is that these narratives of disaster do not merely function as imaginative repetitions or re-enactments of past events, but also take on an anticipatory quality, affectively preparing and the ground for and pre-empting responses to future events. I examine the work of Komatsu Sakyō (1931–2011) in particular, whose writing makes for an illustrative test case for articulating the premediative dimension of disaster narratives in postwar Japanese science fiction.

Coding and childhood between play and learning: Research on the impact of coding in the learning of 4-year-olds

Abstract We propose the results of a research that combines the educational and psychological media approach, to verify the pedagogical potential of coding and robotics in the learning processes of 4-year-old children at the cognitive and socio-relational level. The study investigated the impact of unplugged and plugged coding on the skills of spatiality, movement and problem-solving skills, storage and decoding of progressively more complex indications, and single-group interaction of 51 children and three kindergartens using storytelling and the educational robot Cubetto. The work is based on the research carried out by Lee (2020) on the inclusion of coding in early childhood, the theoretical references of Wing (2010) about computational thinking and the theoretical frameworks proposed by Bers (2020) regarding coding as a playful dimension. The data collected through the quantitative and qualitative tools of a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire to educators and a checklist of observations on children recorded the following: • an increase in children’s space, motor and information-storage/decoding skills; • a change in children’s collaborative skills when comparing the results of the plugged and unplugged coding workshops and • the impact of coding to increase children’s performance skills through narrative dimension and play.

‘Legal Formalism’ and Western legal thought

ABSTRACT According to long-established narratives, legal thinking in Germany, France and the U.S.A. was shaped by formalist legal cultures for the most part of the nineteenth century until the respective legal sciences embraced their social responsibility in the early twentieth century. Recently, legal historians have begun to question these narratives. In separate analyses, they have shown that the critics of ‘Legal Formalism’ exerted a lasting influence on historical research since the early twentieth century, thereby fostering a deeply charged understanding of nineteenth century jurisprudence. What went largely unnoticed, however, was the transnational dimension of this false narrative. Due to the transnational ties of the critics of ‘Legal Formalism’, a powerful misrepresentation of nineteenth century Western legal thought emerged that still influences contemporary global legal history. Dismantling the prejudices surrounding the Western jurisprudence of the nineteenth century causes crucial challenges for conceptualising nineteenth century Western legal thought.