Symbolic Discourse Research Articles

Sharing ecological wisdom through dialogue across worldview boundaries

This paper aims to build a bridge between worldviews, a bridge capable of connecting what are often incomensurable perceptions of environmental issues. A model for communication which goes beyond argumentation and dialectics is derived and outlined from the various works of Raimon Panikkar. Panikkar's diatopical model offers symbolic discourse as a means to link theological, philosophical, and ecological aspects of environmental issues. The example of Fijian rainforest conservation is used to show how ecological wisdom may be exchanged across worldview boundaries.

Symbolic discourse: mystical writing as anti-language

Symbolic discourse: mystical writing as anti-language

The experimental self: dialogic subjectivity in Woolf, Pym, and Brooke-Rose

Acknowledging the importance of Bakhtin s concept of the dialogic, Judy Little utilizes the insights of Bakhtin theorists such as Derrida, Foucault, Lyotard as strategies for examining the political complexity of the as Virginia Woolf, Barbara Pym, Christine Brooke-Rose construct it their fiction. Little demonstrates that the tradition of the self-as-individual belongs to a complex, intricately dialogic discourse, with the self being an ongoing experiment heteroglossia rather than a single, monologic ism. Woolf, Pym, Brooke-Rose, she argues, manifest a creative, relationship to Western discourses of subjectivity, their novels construct ideologically mobile selves that thrive on dialogic appropriation transformation. Among the novels which explores subjectivity, s Room and The Waves the most complex. Little shows that s Room, Woolf reverses narrative tradition, the creatively dialogic female narrator appropriating a textually masculine status while reserving for Jacob the textual position of the other, the feminine. The Waves questions subjectivity more radically, the fragmented soliloquies implying that the post-modern self has a relational feminine origin after the demise of grand narratives. Examining Pym s major novels, Little locates the inventive discourse of the author s eccentrics their dialogic construction of the trivial. Pym s strategically conventional narrative style privileges the marginal symbolic discourses by which the selves her fiction appropriate the insignificant as a mode of signification. Little notes that whether the selves the fiction of Brooke-Rose are human or mere texts on a computer screen, they all respond to crises with a courageous faith the self-inventive capacity of language. These heteroglossic subjectivities appropriate, amalgamate, generally maneuver the resources of narrative into fresh (and often comic) scenarios of origin, author, self. Discussing the novels of Woolf, Pym, Brooke-Rose, Little defines experimental in terms of subjectivity (how the text constructs the self) rather than the more traditional terms of the transgression of narrative levels typographical features. Little also breaks with tradition her use of Bakhtin. Most studies discuss Bakhtin s views philosophically theoretically. By contrast, Little employs Bakhtin s ideas as strategies for reading analyzing the discourses that are present a text.

The Dunedin Mayoral Election

ABSTRACTIn an electoral upset in 1995 Dunedin elected its first woman and first Sikh mayor. This paper argues that the symbolic discourse of the mayoral election confronted the Dunedin electorate with the question of ‘fairness’ or equity in the city. Turner's victory signalled the symbolic rejection by a plurality of voters of the ruling neo‐liberal political economy of Dunedin. In the same election the incumbent council, in a political reproduction of the ruling order, was returned. The paper explores this contradiction. It concludes that Dunedin's struggle for a new ruling political alliance necessary to combat a stagnant city economy has just begun.

War and peace on the land: An analysis of the symbolism of organic farming

Alternative technologies such as organic farming often serve as focal points for socio-political contests between groups which hold different sets of interests, values and beliefs. The symbolic construction of meanings plays an important part in influencing and controlling organizational and individual frames of perspectives and actions to either enhance or suppress the potential for radical change to the status quo. A content analysis of concepts, themes and root metaphors that organic and conventional farmers associate with organic farming revealed two substantively different patterns of symbolic discourse at individual and organizational levels. The political nature and purpose of the symbolic construction of alternative technologies and in particular, organic farming is discussed.

Julia Kristeva and the Psychological Dynamics of Writing

B y tapping into latent emotional dynamics, Julia Kristeva's poststructuralist psy chology offers a provocative means to modify emphasis of academic discourse on cognitive order. Cogni tive psychology has provided us with protocols and processing models that examine diverse ways writers solve problems. Recent sociocognitive orientations con tinue to ident ify observation-based discourse patterns that writers use to construct meaning within the broader context of a and cultural context, of language, of discourse conventions (Flower, 1 994, p. 52). With sophisticated conceptual maps and experimental savvy, sociocognitivists adeptly investigate interacting subprocesses in constructing negotiated meaning. Berkenkotter and Huckin ( 1 995) demonstrate with precision that microlevel studies of . . . processes, can also be interpreted (from macrolevel) as communicative acts within a discursive network or system (p. ix). Moving bey ond controversy over value of these findings, I would like to counterpose organized sociocogn itive psychology with poststructuralist psychology of Kristeva. Most humanists believe that writers are more than serial processors. James Berlin ( 1 988) argues persuasively for a social-epistemic rhetoric, within which language is recognized as a social phenomenon that is a product of a particular historical moment (p. 488). Berlin critiques attention cognitivists have paid to mapping heuristics of writing while regarding mind as a straightfor­ ward set of structures that performs in a rational manner, adjusting and reorder­ ing functions in service of goals of individual (p. 482). Berlin i s right t o see that [t]here is n o universal, eternal, and authentic self'; instead, [t] he self is always a creation of a particular historical and cultural moment (p. 489). Clearly we create meaning through a complex synthesis of history, culture, and intellect. However, by widening our i nvestigations to psychoanalysis, those of us who theorize about and teach composition may come to understand more fully that writing emanates not only from intellect and ideological situatedness, but al so from deep-seated emotions and fantasies. Writing theorists need to take a more comprehensive look at ways personal casting and emotional tonality influence writing. Kristeva's reconfiguration of symbolic discourse offers us one provocative way to look beyond cognitive, sociocognitive, and epistemic boundaries to new ways of understanding mysteries of composing.

Organization Symbols:

This study examines the organizational symbolism that is reflected in corporate discourse. Specifically, the researcher discovers and describes the types of symbols and the functions they served over time. The investigation demonstrates how a symbolic analysis can provide a better understanding of, and make a contribution to, existing research on organizational concepts such as organizational change, leadership, and organizational metaphors. In addition, it provides a fruitful research method for analyzing the functions of symbolic discourse and proposes some areas for future research.

Israel's Love Affair With God: Song of Songs (review)

Hebrew Studies 36 (1995) 204 Reviews I appreciated the treatment of all three books, but, in particular, I thoroughly enjoyed the appropriate, sane, helpful and theologically appropriate evangelical tone of the interpretation of Song of Songs. If all human beings (including all so-called religious) would celebrate human sexuality as portrayed in this biblical book and as understood by Garrett (and many others), then it would be a pleasure to live these few years of our meaningless (cf. Eccll:2, 12:8) life. I am convinced, though, that our lives are only meaningless and futile if we disregard God's instructions by not showing deep respect to one another: "The Deity worship / and His commandments observe!" (Eccl12:13c). Walter L. Michel Lutheran School o/Theology at Chicago Chicago. IL 60615 ISRAEL'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH GOD: SONG OF SONGS. By Jacob Neusner. The Bible of Judaism Library. pp. xx + 132. Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1993. Paper. The Bible of Judaism Library is intended to introduce students to the structure and argument of Midrash through a line-by-line reading of representative passages from Midrash Rabbah. Each volume will focus on one book and its distinctive message. Song of Songs Rabbah has been chosen to inaugurate the series because Neusner considers it to be "the single best entry" (p. 1) into Midrashic literature, the most coherent statement by our sages of their theology and their intimacy with God. Neusner's passionate sensitivity to the poetry of the Midrash, as a complement to that of the Song, is evident throughout. Neusner reads Song of Songs Rabbah as a profoundly symbolic discourse. His aims are: (i) to show that the Midrash is a composition, not an agglutinative compilation; (ii) that it has a relatively clear message; (iii) communicated through a restricted repertoire of symbols . Unlike Muslim and Christian theology, that of the Midrash is not propositional; it impresses itself indirectly, through an accumulation of illustrations and concrete details. "The compilers of Song of Songs Rabbah proposed to say one thing in a great many ways" (p. 11). That it is not overtly propositional accounts for its difficulty for contemporary readers. As always, Neusner writes beautifully and is a skilled and committed teacher. The book is also commendable for its absence of polemic, perhaps Hebrew Studies 36 (1995) 205 Reviews because it is addressed to students. The views with which Neusner disagrees are nevertheless in evidence, though only Adin Steinsaltz is directly cited. Neusner opposes theories of Midrashic polysemy, indeterminacy, and selfcontradiction . He argues that no theology can do without a premise of overarching and intelligible order amid chaos (pp. 11-12). The body of the book illustrates his argument through extensive quotation of long and extremely complex exegeses, such as the tour-de-force on Song of Songs 1:2, and more routine, shorter pieces, chosen for their diversity. Neusner's introductions to these passages and his demonstrations of their coherence are among the best and most moving parts of the book. He shows that throughout we find the same rhetorical structures, such as the rhythmic triads of the Sea, Sinai and the world to come, or the first and second redemptions and the Messianic age (p. 3), and the same restricted sets of paradigmatic figures (pp. 6-8). As in any metaphoric work, the biblical text is taken to pieces so as to assert its ultimate unity. The most pervasive technique in this process of fragmentation and reintegration is the davar 'aher, the difference of opinion which produces, instead of contradiction , a cumulative subsumation in the celebration of divine-human love. For example. both the Sea and Sinai are fit occasions for the Song, and neither is complete without the other (p. 18). The book does have its shortcomings. There is. at times, an extreme disproportion between text and commentary, with long stretches of unrelieved citation. Secondly. although Neusner argues persuasively that the Midrash is an artful composition rather than a miscellany, he accomplishes his structural analysis only through relegating vast amounts of material to the status of footnotes or appendices. There are two problems with this procedure. The first is that the boundary between footnote and main text, between...

Personal Style as a Mediator of Engagement in Dance: Watching Terpsichore Rise

In a world where symbolic discourse may be the hallmark of a dominant species, certain human beings stand out for their social isolation. Six nonverbal children, ages six to nine, with dual impairments of vision and hearing, formed one such cluster of humanity within a residential educational setting. This article reports on some features of a study that analyzes the influence of an intensive dance program (Dance) on social and task engagement in these children (Bond 1991). A multi-faceted inquiry was undertaken that combined a two-group experimental design with participant observation and cumulative theorizing. In this “art-science duet” (Bond 1987), qualitative procedures were adopted to interpret patterns of engagement uncovered through quantitative analysis. Results clearly show that Dance was an effective mode of expression, communication and learning for the six children.

The construction of patienthood in medical advertising.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dominant symbolic elements, themes, and discourses used in drug advertisements published in a weekly magazine directed toward physicians. The discussion is concerned with both the visual signs and textual format of the advertisements, analyzing their attempts to create images around the drugs that appeal to the medical readership of the magazine. With the premise that the producers of the advertisements drew upon shared knowledge and belief systems of their medical audience to create a meaningful image for the drugs, the focus of the article is upon the portrayal of patients in the advertisements, with particular interest in gendered representations. The author argues that the way in which patients are portrayed visually and verbally in such advertisements is revealing of the ideological dimension of the doctor-patient relationship within the biomedical system of healing, including notions of the mechanical man and the vulnerable woman as archetypal patients.

The Literary Function of K'un-lun Mountain in the Mu T'ien-tzu chuan

In this article I question the assumption that all place-names in the Mu T'ien-tzu chuan refer to real places. I suggest instead a mythic origin for many of these seemingly referential elements. By analyzing a complex of myths either referred to or alluded to in the text, I show that several crucial place-names come in fact from cosmological referents rather than geographical ones. The Mu T'ien-tzu chuan cannot then be read purely as a historical account. I extend this argument by revealing how the elements of cosmological myth in the narrative must themselves be read as elements of symbolic discourse; that is, they have to be read within an astronomical context as references to celestial phenomena. By reading the cosmological and astronomical discourses of the myths together, I demonstrate the literary significance of the Mu T'ien-tzu chuan, a significance which to date has been obscured by misreadings of its historicity. Finally, I argue that only by reading the Mu T'ien-tzu chuan as a literary fiction can one understand what it tells us about how notions of political legitimacy were constructed and then altered in the representation of King Mu's (fictional) journey. The narrative is thus revealed to be a wholly symbolic tale whose interpretation has implications for the wider realm of the interconnections among history, literature and culture.

Gilding the Smokestacks: The New Symbolic Representations of Deindustrialised Regions

Central to attempts to restructure the economic and industrial base of deindustrialised regions is the redefinition of image and the creation of new forms of identity. It is argued that this cultural focus is often absent from analyses of industrial change and the regeneration of localities. With a focus on two deindustrialised areas in Australia which have faced significant job loss in recent years, the local promotional texts are analysed to investigate how important the production of a revitalised image has been to the regeneration of these areas. The author looks at what elements in the texts drew on specifically local or national myths and culture and what elements drew on more universal symbolic discourses and realities, in particular dominant Western notions of masculinity. The concern was to see if the form of representation of the dominant discourses varied spatially or in the process of change.

Twins and Unilateral Figures in Central and Southern Africa: Symmetry and Asymmetry in the Symbolization of the Sacred

Unilateral figures may be said to constitute a quasi-universal mythological theme in view of the fact that in numerous cultures gods and spirits are being portrayed as anthropomorphic beings consisting of one side only. Less drastically, such beings may be depicted also as in possession of two sides, a human one and one modelled of beeswax, vegetal material, earth, stone, iron or suchlike. In creation stories we are sometimes told that the gods at first want to fashion humans in their own likeness as half-beings, immortal but incapable of procreation. In the end, however, they invariably decide to make them two-sided and capable of reproducing themselves, but there is a price to be paid, which is that henceforth man must die. Apart from such radical forms of onesidedness, we come across a great many instances of figurative onesidedness in the form of otherwise normal personages, one of whose sides becomes mutilated or incapacitated in consequence of some heroic deed. In mythical discourse even single humans may be viewed as representations of one-sidedness, since from the viewpoint of biological procreation there must be two. An important conclusion to be drawn in the course of this paper is that these figurative cases belong to the same symbolic discourse as the 'strict'

"God's Line Is Never Busy": An Analysis of Symbolic Discourse in Two Southern Appalachian Denominations

Because of the importance of symbolism in religion, this study analyzes language use and storytelling in congregations of two religious denominations Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee) and the Southern Baptist Convention in Southern Appalachia. Interest centers upon recurrent themes, stories, and metaphors in church leader talk. Attention is given to the role such language plays in symbolizing organizational values. While study findings show many similarities between the two denominations, fundamental differences in church values are illustrated through both qualitative and quantitative methods. This study emphasizes the importance of stories and metaphors in understanding religious life and the usefulness of discourse analysis in research on religious organizations.

Gilding the smokestacks: The new symbolic representations of deindustrialised regions

Central to attempts to restructure the economic and industrial base of deindustrialised regions is the redefinition of image and the creation of new forms of identity. It is argued that this cultural focus is often absent from analyses of industrial change and the regeneration of localities. With a focus on two deindustrialised areas in Australia which have faced significant job loss in recent years, the local promotional texts are analysed to investigate how important the production of a revitalised image has been to the regeneration of these areas. The author looks at what elements in the texts drew on specifically local or national myths and culture and what elements drew on more universal symbolic discourses and realities, in particular dominant Western notions of masculinity. The concern was to see if the form of representation of the dominant discourses varied spatially or in the process of change.

“Sanitized for your protection” on the hygiene of metaphors

The metaphor has gained much importance as of late. No longer simply a decorative feature of discourse, the trope has obtained an epistemological and ontological dimension. No longer merely a figural flourish of prose, the metaphor has acquired an important role in the study of human understanding. Hence, thanks to theoretical rehabilitation and philosophical reconsideration, metaphorical analysis has become an important and popular pursuit for many disciplines--philosophy, literary theory, linguistics, rhetoric, et al.2 While the insights generated and the discoveries made by metaphorical analysis are significant and worthy of much study, we will take as our point of departure the limits of such critical inquiry. This essay offers another perspective, a sort of theoretical intervention which examines from another angle the study of discourse. Rhetorical theory, it will be reasoned, benefits from a perspective which considers the metonymical features of discourse. As such, the comparative advantages of either metaphorical or metonymical analysis are not measured by which one is true, but rather by which one is most useful for a given project. Simply put, a metonymical perspective can recognize and explain a terrain outside the scope of metaphorical analysis. The change we consider in this essay does not render useless or inadequate previous explanations, but rather opens a space or a zone from which to critically evaluate what has been previously overlooked. As noted, the popularity and importance of the metaphor has never been greater. Whether it be conceived as function, cluster, or nature, the research has sought, and continues to seek, the habitation of the metaphor within all symbolic discourse. Indeed, it may be safe to assume that the study of metaphors remains an important and integral component of contemporary rhetorical theory. As a result of theoretician diligence and persistence, a wide array of techniques exist for the study of metaphors within discourse. For examples of such metaphorical research we turn briefly to the work of I.A. Richards, Max Black, Edwin Black, and Paul Ricoeur. Perhaps no one should figure more prominently than I.A. Richards in the reappraisal of the trope. Using the metaphor, his New Rhetoric, seeks to recover meaning, to stabilize and neutralize the somewhat figural moments of discourse.

The Language of Resistance: Rhetorical Tactics and Symbols of Popular Protest in Germany

Popular protests in postwar germany are sparked by a wide range of environmental concerns, which have become known collectively as "green" issues. While the overt focus of these protests is directed against urban and technological expansion, the symbolic discourse of the "green" movement constitutes a form of resistance, a way of reacting rhetorically to an increasing bureaucratization of expressive culture. My research reveals that the diverse metaphors of protest draw on both romantic and nationalist perceptions of the city. [Germany, urban protest movements, political language, symbolic discourse, nationalism]

Microcosm, Macrocosm and the Nuaulu house: Concerning the reductionist fallacy as applied to metaphorical levels

It is well-known that symbolic worlds can only be understood in terms of other symbols, by insiders and interpreters alike. Indeed, this is what people mean by a symbolic system: not merely so many symbols in dependently symbolizing some aspect of what is conveniently agreed to be 'reality', but symbols representing each other, sometimes symbolizing more than one other symbol, sometimes an aspect of a single symbol. Thus we are in the business of constructing elaborate networks of meaning and expression where the nodes are both signifiers and signi fi?d, expressers and expressed; invariably semantically complex, but seldom identical. This follows not only from the formal character of shared meanings, but also because people vary among themselves in the attributions and interpretations which they place upon symbols, and vary also within themselves according to context and structured time. The symbolic world of a five-year-old girl is very different from that of a 50-year-old man, but both are sufficiently similar to permit many standard cues and responses, though not so rigid as to prevent creative flexibility. Thus, all 5-year-old girls and 50-year-old men also differ within their age-cohort and among their cultural peers. But in both cases the differences are not so great as to prevent communication, except that the increase in cultural distance diminishes the common semiotic world which they inhabit and the shared symbols which they can use. We conveniently represent degrees of shared symbolic discourse as levels of meaning, while the coordinates employed in different contexts and according to different degrees of generality are often imagined (by many scholars who use the English language as a medium for dissemina

Symbolism and the senses in Saint Augustine

Novalis once said that tile function ofpoetry was to make the strange familiar and tile familiar strange, x A similar function can be performed by scholarship in the history of religions. The cross-cultural perspective of the general scientific study ofreligion has opened up the possibility for understanding strange, foreign and unfamiliar religious traditions as meaningful universes of human ~hought and action. The strange becomes familiar by entering into a common frame of human understanding. But Christianity remains in many ways the east understood religion, because, for an academic discipline that has been urtured in the Western intellectual tradition, it is entirely too familiar. We know Christianity too well. The common assumptions, presumptions and conditioning regarding the Christian tradition contribute to a situation, like the proverbial fish in water, in which we are too close to tell wheat we are in the midst of. One of the more interesting challenges facing the history of religions is to engage the familiar in new and illuminating ways. Through a careful reexamination of the familiar sources and resources it may be possible to reveal the contours of Christianity in a new, strange and unfamiliar light. This study iof one major current within Christianity is an effort toward making the iChristian tradition more available to the history of religions. It may prove fruitful to approach such a central figure as Augustine through th e interpretive tools, insights and categories which have emerged in the cross-cultural study of religions. A shift from an almost exclusive preoccupation with theological doctrine, to an attention to the dynamics of symbolic discourse in general would be productive. This change in perspective may disclose unexpected patterns of meaning in the religious universe ofeven such an obviously famil!ar figure as Augustine. One area within the history of religions that has not received sufficient attention is the relation between sense perception and religious symbolism. It is important to ask in what wa},s religious language is conditioned by the biological processes ofhuman perception and informed by the cultural under-

Book Reviews: Public Accountability and the Schooling System: A Sociology of School Board Democracy, the Alternative in Eastern Europe, Bürokratischer Sozialismus: Eine Analyse des sowjetischen Herrschaftssystems, a Sociology of Industrialisation: An Introduction, Farm Life in Northeast Scotland, 1840–1914: The Poor Man's Country by Ian Carter, Computer Models in the Social Sciences, Deviant Interpretations, Poverty and Social Change, Main Currents of

Book Reviews: Public Accountability and the Schooling System: A Sociology of School Board Democracy, the Alternative in Eastern Europe, Bürokratischer Sozialismus: Eine Analyse des sowjetischen Herrschaftssystems, a Sociology of Industrialisation: An Introduction, Farm Life in Northeast Scotland, 1840–1914: The Poor Man's Country by Ian Carter, Computer Models in the Social Sciences, Deviant Interpretations, Poverty and Social Change, Main Currents of