M.A., Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatwersrand, 2011 / Posttraumatic growth has been an ongoing area of interest in the field of positive psychology. In recent years posttraumatic growth has been linked with the presence of posttraumatic stress symptomatology. The existence of posttraumatic growth has been validated in a number of cultures. There are certain domains that have been implicated in the construction of the phenomenon which taps into different aspects of people’s lives like relating to others, personal strength, new possibilities and appreciation of life. Particular interest has risen with regard to whether this phenomenon develops as a function of ethnic and cultural influences. This study aimed to investigate whether there are differences in posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress symptoms as a function of ethnocultural identity. This was investigated by the use of self-report measures of MEIM (Phinney, 1992), Traumatic Stress Schedule (Norris, 1990), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996) and the Impact of Events Scale Revised (Weiss & Marmar, 1997). The sample consisted of 80 students from the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, at the University of Witwatersrand. Results of the multivariate analysis showed that ethnocultural identity interacts with ethnicity to moderate posttraumatic stress symptoms. Specifically, findings suggested that Black South African and Indian students who identified with their ethnocultural heritage, reported fewer PTSD symptoms. Whereas the converse was true for White South Africans and Black Africans from other countries. The more they adopted ethnoculturally informed beliefs, the more likely they were to report symptoms of PTSD. There were no significant findings regarding ethnocultural identity in relation to posttraumatic growth. Implications for further research and clinical intervention are discussed.

abstract: The steady influx of Venezuelan immigrants to the United States has resulted in the creation of a close-knit community of these immigrants in the city of Doral, Florida, now nicknamed Doralzuela given the strong imprint Venezuelan have left in this city. This study aimed at gaining understanding on how the process of immigration and settlement in the context has affected Venezuelan immigrants’ identity, their perception and use of English and Spanish in daily interactions, and how, or if, their bonds with the home country has affected their incorporation to the host society. The study followed a qualitative design. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed following Riessman’s (2008) notion of dialogic narrative analysis. Six themes emerged from the data; (re)configuration of the self, the role of social networks, negotiating identity through language, issues of assimilation, transnational identity, and Doralzuela, the new Venezuela. These themes were discussed, and multiple and distinct views on each theme were identified. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis English 2018

Depuis une vingtaine d’années, nous nous familiarisons avec l’appellation d’Africains -Américains pour désigner les Noirs Américains. Cependant, dès son apparition, certaines personnes ont pensé que cette appellation ne serait pas acceptée par les membres du groupe. Pourtant, à leur arrivée sur le continent américain,les Noirs s’identifiaient comme Africains et cette référence est réapparue au XXe siècle. À travers des entrevues, effectuées à Atlanta en mars 2001, nous analysons le rôle joué par la mémoire collective et la mémoire sociale sur l’identité et nous interprétons les discours des individus concernant la nouvelle appellation instaurée en 1989. Ce mémoire est une analyse historique et anthropologique des discours identitaires chez des Africains-Américains d’Atlanta en 2001. Nous identifions deux axes du processus d’identification dont les racines remontent au XIXe siècle. La conscience de la situation unique des Africains en Amérique a toujours orienté l’identité «…and the Negro protest movement in two ways and has led in two directions simultaneously: wanting out and wanting in …» (Joanne Grant 1968, 1983, 1986: 9). / Since twenty years, we familiarize ourselves with name Africans-Americans to indicate the American Blacks. However, since its appearance, some people thought that this name would not be accepted by group members. However, upon of their arrival on the American continent, the Blacks identified themselves as Africans and this reference reappeared in the twentieth century. Through interviews, carried out in Atlanta, in March 2001, we analyse the part played by the collective memory and the social memory on their identity and we interpret the speech of the individuals about the new name introduced in 1989. The thesis is an analysis historical and anthropological of discourses of identity among African Americans of Atlanta in 2001. We identify two axes in the identification process which roots go in the nineteenth century. The awareness of the single situation of the Africans in America has always oriented identity and « … The Negro protest movement in two ways and has led in two directions simultaneously: wanting out and wanting in…» (Joanne Grant 1968, 1983, 1986 : 9).

<p>PURPOSE: To find out how identity creating and community utter within the Black Metal culture, to get an insight of why people are drawn to Black Metal, and what function it fills to the adherents/practicians.</p><p>METHOD: Analyses of interviews done by the authors. In addition to them literature, mainly in book form, is used for theories.</p><p>RESULT: We have seen that there are shared Black Metal values, despite a strong individualism within the culture. And death is important for the survival of the culture and the individuals.</p> / <p>SYFTE: Att ta reda på hur identitetsskapande och gemenskap yttrar sig inom black metal-kulturen, att få en inblick i varför folk dras till black metal, samt vad det fyller för funktion för anhängarna/utövarna.</p><p>METOD: Analyser av intervjuer gjorda av författarna. Utöver dem nyttjas litteratur, främst i bokform, för teorier.</p><p>RESULTAT: Vi har sett att det finns black metal-gemenskaper, trots en stark individualism inom kulturen. Och döden är viktig för kulturens och individernas överlevnad.</p>

PURPOSE: To find out how identity creating and community utter within the Black Metal culture, to get an insight of why people are drawn to Black Metal, and what function it fills to the adherents/practicians. METHOD: Analyses of interviews done by the authors. In addition to them literature, mainly in book form, is used for theories. RESULT: We have seen that there are shared Black Metal values, despite a strong individualism within the culture. And death is important for the survival of the culture and the individuals. / SYFTE: Att ta reda på hur identitetsskapande och gemenskap yttrar sig inom black metal-kulturen, att få en inblick i varför folk dras till black metal, samt vad det fyller för funktion för anhängarna/utövarna. METOD: Analyser av intervjuer gjorda av författarna. Utöver dem nyttjas litteratur, främst i bokform, för teorier. RESULTAT: Vi har sett att det finns black metal-gemenskaper, trots en stark individualism inom kulturen. Och döden är viktig för kulturens och individernas överlevnad.

This thesis aims at evaluating the impact of euro upon European identity. By analyzing the theory of identity and the concept of money, this thesis reveals the relationship between currency and collective identity and applies this logic to the dynamics between euro and European identity. In order to grasp a better understanding, the thesis studies some selected member states in more depth and evaluates each one within their special circumstances. The findings of this thesis suggest that the constructive impact of euro upon European identity is determined by the level Europeanization or the strength of the sense of Europeanness in respective member states. To this extent the euro has a constructive impact upon European identity in member states in which Europeanization or European identity is perceived positively. On the other hand, in those member states in which Europeanization or European identity is perceived negatively, the euro has neither negative nor constructive impact.

The object of the dissertation is British and Indian popular (commercial) cinema and the construction of identity there. The problem of identity construction in Indian and British films was researched employing three approaches found in the postcolonial theory: the critique of colonial discourse, anticolonial nationalism and the construction of national identity and the problematics of diasporic identity. The comparative analysis of the films from the two industries of the countries which were bounded by colonial relationships in the past let us see the complex ways of how identity is articulated in the postcolonial period. It also shows that the colonial memory is not merely a historical relict, but one of the ways to construct identity, which is always brought up and rethought in contemporary popular culture. The comparative analysis of British and Indian films leads us to the following conclusions: Nadion constructs itself through the constant employment of the resources of colonial memory – and does so depending on various goals: fantasy, nostalgia, fear etc. The ever-present use of colonial memory in the context of the present shows that postcoloniality is a process rather than achieved state, thus letting us observe the positions and functions of imperialism not only in the past, but present as well. British as well as Indian cinema includes the cultural “otherness” in the narratives, which is modeled and manipulated according to the historical period when the film was... [to full text] / Disertacijos objektas yra komercinis Britanijos ir Indijos kinas bei jame konstruojamos tapatybės. Tapatybės konstravimo problematika Indijos ir Britanijos filmuose yra tiriama remiantis trimis tapatybės analizės pokolonijinėje teorijoje pjūviais: kolonijinio diskurso kritika, antikolonijiniu nacionalizmu ir tautinės tapatybės konstravimu bei diasporinės tapatybės problematika. Lyginamasis dviejų, praeityje kolonijiniais saitais susietų valstybių kino filmų tyrimas leido pažvelgti į kompleksines tapatybės artikuliavimo pokolonijiniame laikotarpyje galimybes ir parodė, kad kolonijinė praeitis nėra vien tik istorinis reliktas, bet viena iš tapatybės konstravimo priemonių, nuolat sugrąžinama ir permąstoma šiuolaikinėje populiariojoje kultūroje ir kinematografijoje. Išanalizavus medžiagą disertacijoje prieita prie šių išvadų: tauta konstruoja save per nuolatinį kolonijinės atminties resursų panaudojimą – ir atlieka tai vedina skirtingų tikslų: fantazijos, nostalgijos, baimės ir kt. Nuolatinis kolonijinės atminties eskalavimas dabarties kontekste rodo pokolonializmo procesualumą, bet ne substanciškumą, atverdamas kelius pažvelgti į imperializmą ir jo poziciją ne tik praeityje, bet ir dabartyje. Tokiame kontekste tiek Britanija, tiek Indija į filmų naratyvus įtraukia kultūrinės kitybės kategoriją, kuri yra modeliuojama priklausomai nuo filmo sukūrimo laikmečio ir išreiškia skirtingas ideologines sanklodas. Kalbėjimas apie „Kitą“ tampa susietas su „Savimi“, taip sukuriant reikšmių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Depuis une vingtaine d’années, nous nous familiarisons avec l’appellation d’Africains -Américains pour désigner les Noirs Américains. Cependant, dès son apparition, certaines personnes ont pensé que cette appellation ne serait pas acceptée par les membres du groupe. Pourtant, à leur arrivée sur le continent américain,les Noirs s’identifiaient comme Africains et cette référence est réapparue au XXe siècle. À travers des entrevues, effectuées à Atlanta en mars 2001, nous analysons le rôle joué par la mémoire collective et la mémoire sociale sur l’identité et nous interprétons les discours des individus concernant la nouvelle appellation instaurée en 1989. Ce mémoire est une analyse historique et anthropologique des discours identitaires chez des Africains-Américains d’Atlanta en 2001. Nous identifions deux axes du processus d’identification dont les racines remontent au XIXe siècle. La conscience de la situation unique des Africains en Amérique a toujours orienté l’identité «…and the Negro protest movement in two ways and has led in two directions simultaneously: wanting out and wanting in …» (Joanne Grant 1968, 1983, 1986: 9). / Since twenty years, we familiarize ourselves with name Africans-Americans to indicate the American Blacks. However, since its appearance, some people thought that this name would not be accepted by group members. However, upon of their arrival on the American continent, the Blacks identified themselves as Africans and this reference reappeared in the twentieth century. Through interviews, carried out in Atlanta, in March 2001, we analyse the part played by the collective memory and the social memory on their identity and we interpret the speech of the individuals about the new name introduced in 1989. The thesis is an analysis historical and anthropological of discourses of identity among African Americans of Atlanta in 2001. We identify two axes in the identification process which roots go in the nineteenth century. The awareness of the single situation of the Africans in America has always oriented identity and « … The Negro protest movement in two ways and has led in two directions simultaneously: wanting out and wanting in…» (Joanne Grant 1968, 1983, 1986 : 9).

This thesis addresses the lack of attention to practices that take place in settings not considered primarily religious, such as life-cycle rituals in the growing body of literature on religious practices of recently emerging African diaspora communities in the West. It argues that these practices are not only filters for indigenous African religious beliefs but also furnish for African migrants contexts that perform functions similar to those performed by the formal African diaspora religious institutions. Using ethnography, the study investigated the role of death rituals in the lives of Ghanaian members of the United Ghanaians Association of South Florida. The findings show that funerals organized in South Florida for relatives of members of the Association enable this trans-migrant community to participate in the lives of their relatives in Ghana. Funerals also furnish for these migrants contexts for performing aspects of their culture helping to cultivate a shared sense of being together or identity, in the process. The study suggests that to understand the full dynamics of African migrant religious experience, a respectful attention must be paid to all the rites of passage that African migrants perform in the West, not only those within formal religious institutions.

The purpose of this thesis and its research is to cover the asexual community in terms of identification and characteristics of sexual life. In theoretical part the groups Gray-A, demisexual and aromantic are described. It compares the approaches of asexuality as a disorder and as a sexual orientation. It discusses asexuality and relationships, celibacy or physical contact. The research gathered data about group prevalence, self-identification, sexual preferencies - real as well as ideal, masturbation and pornography. The research sample accounted for 160 respondets from the AVEN forum. The online questionnaire was prepared especially for this thesis. The data are presented as whole as well as divided into two age groups - the younger (18-23) and older (24-59) group. The significant difference was found in these areas: usage of sex toys/objects of sexual pleasure, number of sexual partners, relationship status and the age of first sexual intercourse. Theoretical part - in concordancy with research - shows, that a portion of asexuals: has relationships, uses pornography and sexual toys, is romantic and experiences various types of sex.