Symbolic Perspective Research Articles

Symbolic Analysis of Animal Images in Edgar Allan Poe’s Works

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is an influential writer in the history of American literature and even in world literature. He is a novelist, a poet and a literary theorist, who is known as a pioneer of horror fiction, science fiction and detective fiction. The style of his works is unique and fills with rich connation and it involves dual personality and non-communication between people. In particular, the animal images account for most proportion in his all works, and this is the focus of this thesis. The present study is to analyze some typical animal images in Poe’s works from the perspective of symbolism. Animal images in Poe’s literary works are divided into two categories for analysis. One is about the real-world animals, which suggest the darkness and complexity of human nature and reveal people’s living state and psychological state. Poe uses these animal images as tools to show a certain person’s personality or instinct and manifest the inner world or spirit situation of social beings. The other group concerns the virtual unknown animal images, such as gold bug. In his works, Poe expresses the desire of mankind to know themselves and the world. This study is supposed to analyze the symbolic meaning and functions of animal images, weather the real ones or the imaginable one in Poe’s works, which is expected to expand the perspective of animal image analysis in Edgar Allan Poe’s works, and provide a broader development space for the study of Edgar Allan Poe. It helps to deepen readers’ understanding of human nature and human life in Edgar Allan Poe’s works.

POLA PEMBENTUKAN KELOMPOK TANI (Studi di Kabupaten Malang)

This study aims to determine the pattern formation of farmer groups and the dynamics surrounding it. Theoretically, this research is expected to complement previous studies and as a material for further study the interaction problems of farmers in the group. The research method in this study is a qualitative descriptive symbolic interaction perspective. The unit of analysis in this study is the interaction between individuals in a partnership contract with the farmers do Perhutani office and perceptions that arise from the current fertility involved in these interactions. The data collection is done by means of unstructured interviews, in-depth interviews (depth interview), and the observation participation. The data were analyzed qualitatively. The study's findings include the discovery of the three main sources of formation of farmer groups, which are formed due to the dynamics problem fertilizer distribution mechanism, their help, and through association study.Ultimately verifier will recommend the farmer group based institutional track record and activeness in the sustainability of the program, both in terms of activities, maintenance, as well as the accountability side.

A Model for Organisational Storytelling from Ancient Indian Mythology

Stories provide symbolic perspectives of organisations. Unlike statistics and lists, stories are more convincing and are repeated more often than technical information like percentages and figures. This approach fits in with strategic management in organisations due to the fact that it involves a translation from the intangible area (storytelling as an art) to a tangible one (a set of practices and tools). The variety of story typologies identified within and outside organisations all emphasise two main aspects: Firstly, stories are about interaction-they are shared through interaction and are based on communication and collaboration. At this level, stories are ‘socially constructed’. Stories do not reside in individuals’ mind; they are a consequence of people interaction and are based on a common language, shared meanings and values. Secondly, stories are about experiences-they include a description of a real or imaginary situation in which a hero succeeds in achieving his/her goal. It is a way of transmitting one's values, emotions and beliefs some theorists view stories as the single most powerful form of human communication. The written form of knowledge transmission is a fairly recent phenomenon if we consider that almost all ancient cultural and religious beliefs have been passed on for thousands of years through the spoken word as stories that take as many forms as human creativity could this conceive. This paper presents a 10-S model of storytelling derived from ancient Indian mythology-Strategy, Structure, Seller, Soul, Symbols, Sense or Sentiment, Setting, Synergy, Silence and Scalability-by illustrating it with stories from the Mahabharata, one of the most versatile of Hindu epics. This paper also discusses in detail, the last three uniquely Indian dimensions not captured in any known model of communication. This paper concludes with a convincing argument for the universal applicability of the 10-S model for encoding and decoding organisational storytelling.

Animal sacrifices: a Mechanism to silence the Spirits of victims of violent deaths Mate Mean or Red Death in East Timor

This paper reports animal sacrifices witnessed between 2010 and 2013, during exhumations performed by the forensic team of Serious Crimes Investigation Team (SCIT) of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNMIT). The exhumations were carried out within the framework of the investigations conducted by the United Nations (UN) to clarify the crimes committed during the armed conflict in East Timor in 1999. Therefore, the bodies exhumed correspond to the victims of this event. In this pages, the sacrifices are subject to an anthropological interpretation, with a symbolic perspective. To this end, the procedures, artifacts and other elements, present in the practices observed, are described in detail, arguing that this practice corresponds to older traditions, previous to the imposition of the Catholic religion in Timor, and it was a mechanism of interaction among the family group, as well as a tool of communication with the afterlife.

A psique expressiva: o estudo de um processo psicoterápico aliado à produção plástica

O estudo de caso apresentado demonstra uma maneira de utilizar recursos expressivos em psicoterapia e a análise simbólica desse processo. Ele se dedica à trajetória de um paciente que, ao ingressar em psicoterapia, sofre de ansiedade intensa e não vê perspectivas na vida. A leitura psicodinâmica identifica a ação acentuada de complexos e a falta de contato com o mundo interno. Ao longo do processo o paciente acessa seu inconsciente mediante o contato com os sonhos, sua expressividade plástica e diálogo com a psicoterapeuta. Muitas conquistas são realizadas: os complexos materno e paterno são revisitados e transformados; a conscientização de conteúdos inconscientes por meio da compreensão simbólica oferece ao paciente um caminho para sua energia psíquica, o que resulta em uma nova vitalidade; a perspectiva simbólica passa a fazer parte da sua vida, antes aprisionada a uma visão literal, concreta. Uma vez em posse desses recursos, sua personalidade se fortalece e seu herói se manifesta, voltando a lhe oferecer protagonismo e perspectivas criativas na vida. Este trabalho busca, assim, aproximar estudo e prática em psicologia analítica: a pesquisa acadêmica, o atendimento clínico, a fundamentação teórica e o uso da expressividade plástica, sem a pretensão de esgotar as possibilidades de leitura e compreensão do caso ou das áreas de conhecimento abordadas.

Is it all about race? Intergroup threat and perceptions of racial profiling

Relatively few studies have assessed theoretically relevant predictors of individual’s perceptions of racial profiling by law enforcement officers. The current study addresses this limitation by drawing on theoretical frameworks highlighted in the growing body of literature examining disproportionate minority contact (DMC) with the criminal justice system. Specifically, we draw on the racial and symbolic threat perspectives with the objective of identifying theoretically relevant individual and community level predictors of perceptions of racial profiling by public and private police bodies in airports, malls, and on the roads. Results of our analysis of data on White and Black individuals nested within communities support the racial threat perspective in documenting the influence of racial heterogeneity and interracial labor market competition on perceptions of racial profiling. However, in contention to predictions derived from the symbolic threat perspective, the results fail to uncover a link between interracial socioeconomic inequality and perceptions of racial profiling by law enforcement officers. These results highlight the importance of moving beyond individual explanations of profiling and other forms of DMC and suggest community characteristics and perceptions of intergroup threat are particularly salient to understanding perceptions of race-based distinctions in formal social control.

A Flavour of Class‐Based Spatial Change: Geographies of Haute Cuisine in the Netherlands

AbstractThis paper explores the changing culinary geography of the Netherlands applying GIS methods. The changing location of Michelin star‐rated restaurants in the period 1986–2016 is put into a context of the changing relations between urban centres and their suburbs as well as the Randstad and the rest of the country. This paper suggests that the changing culinary geography of the Netherlands is related to the re‐emergence of larger cities, particularly of Amsterdam, associated with the rise of an urban middle class epitomised by processes of gentrification. High end award‐winning restaurants are argued to be a useful lens to study the symbolic geography of place, which integrates economic and symbolic perspectives on spatial change.

SIGMUND FREUD, SUBLIMATION, AND THE RUSSIAN SILVER AGE

Freud's most sustained account of the power of sexual sublimation to fuel scientific and artistic genius is found in hisLeonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood, published in 1910. This article argues that Freud chose Leonardo as the perfect example of sublimation because of his close reading of the then quite popular historical novelLeonardo da Vinci, written by a poet and author of the Russian Silver Age, Dmitrii Merezhkovskii. The central point of Freud's theory of sublimation, that sexuality is at the root of human knowledge and creativity, is developed by Merezhkovskii, but from the religious-philosophical perspective of Silver Age symbolism. Freudian sublimation, as a psychological theory, was developed in dialogue with a Russian religious understanding of Eros and its power. Freud essentially rewrote Merezhkovskii's story of Leonardo, reducing Merezhkovskii's philosophy of Eros to the more “scientifically” grounded theory of sexual sublimation.

Rezijanska Linčica Turkinčica kot splošno slovenski motiv drugosti<br>L’alterità come motivo comune sloveno nel canto resiano <em>Linčica Turkinčica</em></br>

The article focuses on the relationship with alterity and the distant worlds that arises from the folksong cycle of the typ Kralj Matjaž resen iz jece ‘King Matthias rescued form the jale’, which is documented in the Slovenian folk tradition with reach materials from the Resia valley (Italy). Resia is a very peripheral western Slovenian linguistic minority area. Through the analysis of the texts from a linguistic and symbolic perspective the author trys to understand if the image of the Other, in this case of the Turk , is corresponding to the stereotyped representations which developped in folklore of Western Europe and in the South Slavic cultural space towards Ottoman/muslim world. An interesting parallel represents the cycle Zvijacna ugrabitev mlade matere (Lepa Vida) ‘Cunning kidnapping of a young mother (Fair Vida)’, where the Other is represented by a sailor/boatman (Saracen).

Estigma, communitas y modos de corrección para los habitantes de la calle en Bogotá (2000-2010)

Desde una perspectiva simbólica, en este ensayo se reflexiona sobre los modos como lasociedad colombiana contemporánea enfrenta la existencia de los habitantes de la calle.A partir del caso de la calle de El Cartucho y con base en investigaciones realizadas paraconocer la oferta institucional para los habitantes de la calle en Bogotá, se ponen a pruebalos postulados teóricos de Goffman sobre el estigma y de Turner sobre la communitas. Así,se muestran las representaciones sociales que tienen los funcionarios (gubernamentales,no gubernamentales y religiosos) sobre esta población y su asociación con el peligro yel vicio. Se observan las formas como estas personas consideradas outsiders pasan porun proceso “correctivo”, similar a los ritos de paso observados en sociedades orgánicas.Como conclusión, se expone el debate sobre las opciones generales ofrecidas por la sociedadcontemporánea a estas personas que habitan la ciudad: “regresarlos a la vida” graciasa las terapias o caer víctima de la “limpieza social”.

Laumė’s broom or the Image of the Mistletoe in Traditional Lithuanian Culture

Mistletoe (Lith. amalas) is a widespread parasitic plant that is mentioned in various beliefs, myths and other traditional narratives, and is used in rituals, different magic practices and folk medicine. In Lithuania, only one of its species, Viscum album, is known. Even though the mistletoe played an important role in other European cultures, for instance, Druidic and Norse mythologies, the data about its place in the archaic Lithuanian worldview is quite fragmentary. Most probably it is caused by the climatic conditions with relatively frosty winters that limited the spread of the plant in the country.The aim of this article is to collect and systemise the data regarding the mistletoe, and taking into consideration folklore, linguistic and ethnographic material, reveal its image in the traditional Lithuanian culture. While analysing the data, it was noticed that the Lithuanian word amalas and the other names defining the mistletoe, as for instance laumės šluota, i.e. the broom of laumė (a fairy in Lithuanian folklore) are polysemantic and can be used to name not only the evergreen scrub growing on the trees but also certain dense mases of shoots growing from a single point on birch trees, that are caused by the parasitic fungus Taphrina betulina and resemble a broom or a bird’s nest (in English, the latter are called witch’s brooms). For this reason, the research field was expanded to include not only the mistletoe but also the witch’s broom. It is also important to mention that in the ancient Lithuanian worldview both plants quite often were treated in similar ways. The article first discusses the names of the plants, then etiological narratives about the occurrence of the mistletoe and the witch’s broom are analysed, and last their image in folklore, folk beliefs and customs is revealed. The methodology of the research presented in this article consists of analytical descriptive and comparative analysis, Lithuanian data is compared with analogous examples from other nations’ folklore, customs, beliefs, lexical and phraseological facts.The research revealed that even though data regarding the image of the mistletoe is not very rich, it shows that Lithuanians knew this plant and attributed to it magical powers. In the literary Lithuanian language and its dialects, the mistletoe, Lith. amalas is also called amuolas, tirkšlys, tiršlys, prilypas, laumšluotė, laumės / raganos / raganės / velnio šluota (fairy’s / witch’s / devil’s broom), but the idiomatic expression laumė’s or witch’s broom refers not only to the mistletoe but also to the ball-shaped bundle of twigs that resembles a mistletoe (called witch’s broom in English). Based on the results obtained, it can be claimed that both the image of the mistletoe and that of the witch’s broom from the mythical symbolic perspective in certain cases are identical; both plants are related to mythical beings, mythical space between the earth and the sky, and are attributed analogous protective powers. In the ancient Lithuanian worldview, as an evergreen the mistletoe was also given the symbolic meaning of vegetation, vitality and fertility. In the Advent-Christmas period song accompanying the game Grįskime mergos ievaro tiltą (“Girls, Let’s Make a Ievaras Bridge”) the mistletoe mentioned as a material for the construction of the symbolic bridge represents vitality and together with the mythologeme of the other mythical plant ievaras transmits the symbolic meaning of the bridge that must be crossed by young matured people during the sacred period.

Urban Technological Innovation: Developing and Testing a Sociotechnical Framework for Studying Smart City Projects

Urban technological innovation—the innovative use of technologies to tackle urban problems—has become increasingly popular under the label smart city. Our understanding of this sociotechnical process is limited, and therefore, this article develops a framework on the basis of the literature on social and technological innovation. This framework identifies four perspectives—a technological, an instrumental, a collaborative, and a symbolic perspective—to generate a comprehensive account of urban technological innovation. The value of the framework is tested by using it to analyze the Living Lab Stratumseind in Eindhoven (the Netherlands). The case highlights the value of the framework and demonstrates the interactions between the social and technological dimensions. The case study suggests that, for successful urban technological innovation, it is crucial to link initial enthusiasm based on technological and symbolic value to the long-term dynamics of institutionalized collaboration and instrumental value.

Beyond Socio-Materiality and Sense-Making: Planting Symbolic Power and Critical Realism into Strategy-As-Practice Logic

Strategic practice is inherently a social practice shaped by the immediate social context, but capital power does not have a stronger presence in socio-materiality and sense-making. We argue that Bourdieu’s relational mode of thinking mode and Archer’s critical realism should be tapped into Strategy-As-Practice (SAP) research. Strategic discourse researchers “have limited understanding of how individuals become strategists, or even how some individuals in organizations come to be perceived as ‘strategic’ whereas others come to be routinely classified as non-strategic and excluded from studies of strategizing. Thus we have much to learn from paying closer attention to strategic discourse and subjectivity” [1]. This paper describes Bourdieu’s practice theory and suggests that by this lens we can better understand strategy as power relation construction through which symbolic capital is translated into symbolic value in a strategy transformation organization. Such shift of power relations is viewed as accepting relational mode of thinking and critical realism in strategic practice. From symbolic power perspective, character status and role prestige are ascribed to strategy. Implementation of strategy is configuration of power relation designed by strategists. By exploring strategy as social inclusion and distinction, we review strategy discourse beyond social-materiality. We also apply symbolic capital of Bourdieu’s theory to explain world-making beyond sense-making of strategy. We argue that strategies are not based on conscious calculation but rather results from unconscious dispositions towards a particular way of social recognition and inclusion. Strategic discourse analysis maybe has not initially recognized that strategy discourse is a form of symbolic capital used by strategists who wish to bolster social status.

Quem Mexeu no Meu Brinquedo? Investigando os Aspectos Simbólicos que Explicam o Consumo de Brinquedos por Um Grupo de Adultos

The present study aimed to investigate the symbolic figures which explain the consumption of toys by a group of adults. For this, a qualitative study was conducted to gather information via interviews. The subjects were chosen for the convenience of researchers selected five adults who consume toys and collect at least 10 years. The analysis was conducted via discourse analysis to interpret the results from the perspective of symbolism in consumption. The main results is that involvement of consumers with objects and / or characters they represent serve as material symbols in many cases of features they would like to have, how they perceive themselves (self) and moments that want to relive your childhood . Aspects related to the product act as motivators for consumption, seeking consumers in acquiring the repetition of these feelings, and the act of collecting allows the generation of a sense of belonging and reference, from the moment can relate to other groups for which due reference collection.

An Analysis of School Culture from the Symbolic Perspective: An Ethnographic Study

The main purpose of this study was to examine symbols and meanings that interpreted by individuals living within the culture of a school while they’re acting. The data of the study that was designed in ethnographic way was collected through observation, interviews, field notes and documents from the principal, teachers, students, security guard, a member of parent teacher association and graduate students in a school located in Eskisehir. Five categories towards school culture were obtained from analyzing of the symbols. These categories were defined as “success is the development of individuals in accordance with their interests and abilities; we are a family; school principal is the initiator and manager of change; individual must be controlled and disciplined; the sources of the conflict are power and the differences.” Some suggestions were presented to practitioners and researchers in the context of results obtained from the study.

Social capital: a review of its dimensions and promise for future family enterprise research

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to review the notion of social capital and its dominant dimensions and appraise the ways in which social capital and these dimensions have been applied within family business research. Second, to develop a number of suggestions of ways in which the concept could be extended, from a symbolic perspective, to provide greater insight into the complexity and heterogeneity of family systems.Design/methodology/approach– This is a conceptual paper designed to stimulate new ways of thinking about social capital and the competitive advantage of family firms.Findings– This paper suggests that social capital has a symbolic dimension, which has been largely overlooked both within the field of family business and across social capital research more generally. Within the field of family business the authors connect this neglect to an over-emphasis on business theories. The authors offer ways in which incorporating a family theory – symbolic interactionism – could help to better understand family firms, social capital, and competitive advantage.Originality/value– This paper proposes an original approach to social capital. Guided by the notion of informed pluralism the paper integrates seemingly unrelated theories and identifies opportunities for new and innovative research. By espousing a symbolic interactionist approach the argument developed within this paper is valuable for helping to advance new ways of thinking about social capital and the competitive (dis)advantage of family firms.

Construction of Meaning of the Undergraduate Course in Business Administration by High and Low Income Students

This paper reports the results of an empirical study undertaken with a sample of 368 undergraduate business administration students from five private universities in a large Brazilian city. The objective was to analyze the differences in perceptions of the course by students from high and low income backgrounds regarding the following issues: the cultural and symbolic elements involving higher education; the relevance of higher education in consumer priorities and the influence on consumption behavior of students; the appropriateness of the course to their reality; and the expected benefits of obtaining a degree. The data were analyzed using the Grade of Membership (GoM) and t-test statistical techniques. The results, which were compared with the theoretical framework on consumption in a cultural and symbolic perspective, signaled there is a difference in meaning between the two groups of students.

A Cinematographic Reflection on Gesture

Commonly, gesture has an expressive and semantic meaning. As considered in theories of communication, gestures such as body, hand gesture, facial expression, glance and body posture are main means of not verbal, but non-verbal communication. Yet talking about cinematographic gesture, it has to be understood in a different context. It is because cinema is a sort of architecture composed of an image-mouvement of audio-visual images, and also because gesture possesses a particular structure, different from dance and theatre that are crucial expressive means of artistic media. However, this study does not approach cinematographic gesture as specific studies will do, by analyzing its changes through the history of cinema, its esthetical composition or way of expression. It will rather question the meaning of gesture enabling an effet of existence without being signified, and discuss what ethical and political potentialities this absence of signification can suggest. In cinema, gesture appeals to the audience with a certain effet of existence. This study tries to explain the Italian philosopher, Giorgio Agamben's quote about the meaning of cinematographic gesture which is the following: "gesture is the communication of a potential to be communicated. In itself, it has nothing to say, because what is shows is the being-in-language of human beings as pure potential for mediation.” He develops this problem of cinematographic gesture's signification by briefly evoking the importance of Gilles Deleuze's image-movement. This is why this study, trying to explain Agamben's thought about the reflective meaning of cinematographic gesture, will reinvest Roland Barthes' "sense obtuse" and Deleuze's definition of gesture as image-affection. Finally, it will discuss Agamben's reflection on cinematographic gesture. Agamben had once emphasised that cinema, not image but gesture, does not simply belong to the esthetical, but also to the ethical and political order. This study's aim is to suggest that gesture shown in cinema is more than a simple mean of expression in a symbolic perspective: it is closely related to an ontological problem.

How the Hell could that Happen?! A Symbolic Perspective on Disaster

Disaster usually takes organisations by surprise. Yet in retrospect it is often predictable. Extant literature mainly focuses upon the psychological traps which may impede decision-makers' ability to recognise weak signals. Although this perspective is important, it is partial, as organisations are often culpable too. This mainly theoretical and conceptual paper suggests that the counter-measures organisations take to guard against risk and danger may be more symbol than substance, upholding comforting views of the world that are severely at odds with reality. Implications of a symbolic perspective for theory, practice, policy and research are discussed.

Understanding board-CEO power dependency perspective under symbolic management

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to better understand dependency issues between the CEO and the board as well as the between the board and CEO through Emerson’s power dependency framework.Design/methodology/approach– A symbolic management approach is integrated with a board-CEO power dependency model to study the dependency issues.Findings– According to the symbolic management perspective, uncertainty increases the likelihood of symbolic actions. A high level of uncertainty in CEO dependency issues suggests a high likelihood that board power over the CEO is manifested on a symbolic level, whereas a low level of uncertainty in board dependency issues suggests otherwise for CEO power over the board. The core of board-dependency issues is information provision.Practical implications– A focus on improving board control over CEO performance, compensation and strategic proposals is likely to generate symbolic actions without an effective result.Originality/value– The paper advocates that an effective approach to enhance board power is through reducing board information dependency on the CEO.