À la lumière de la théorie de l’identité narrative élaborée par Paul Ricœur, ce mémoire évoque la configuration identitaire des personnages dans les œuvres Cosmos et Les envoûtés de W. Gombrowicz, ainsi que To the Lighthouse et The Waves de V. Woolf. D’une part, nous analyserons l’obsession d’une mise en série aliénante dans le cas de Witold (Cosmos), suivi par un cas de dédoublement et de perte dans l’Autre chez Walczak (Les envoûtés). D’autre part, nous évoquerons le rapport à la famille (James Ramsay) en plus de l’inscription et de l’ancrage par le biais d’éléments prépondérants (The Waves). Il en résulte chez ces personnages, la conception d’une identité par l’entremise d’histoires et d’événements qui la façonnent en un parcours narratif singulier. / By the means of Paul Ricœur’s theory on narrative identity, the following thesis will examine the singular conceptions of identity in the works Cosmos and Les envoutés (W. Gombrowicz) as well as To the Lighthouse and The Waves by V. Woolf. On one hand, we will analyze the obsessive serialization behavior that Witold manifests in Cosmos followed by a case of complete loss of one’s self towards otherness. Furthermore, we will scrutinize the family turmoil between James Ramsay (To the Lighthouse) and his family members. Additionally, we will also inspect the adherence and anchoring of three protagonists towards the development of a unique perception of their environment (The Waves). Ultimately, the protagonists recognize that one’s self is intrically linked to individual stories and events that craft their own sense of being.

The thesis represents an attempt, within the broad field of religion and literature and of identity studies, to read the early unpublished fiction of Alan Paton, dating from approximately 1922 (the end of his student days) to 1935 (when he became Principal of Diepkloof Reformatory). It is pointed out that research into the interrelationship of literature and religion, while well-established in a number of countries, is lagging in South Africa, and it is believed that the present thesis is the first full-length work of its kind, at least as far as South African literature in English is concerned. The writer advances reasons for his explicitly religious and hermeneutic approach to questions of human identity, as found in Paton especially, and focuses these on two particular areas: narrative identity, as propounded in the later work of Paul Ricoeur, and relational identity (to the other human being and to the Other, God), as theorised by Emmanuel Levinas in his later writing. In order to contextualise the study in Africa and in South Africa, brief attention is accorded to writers such as Soyinka, Mbiti and Mbembe and to current debates regarding white identity in South Africa. To lend a sense of historical context, Paton's work is viewed against the backdrop of identity in colonial Natal. The overall approach adopted may be described as broadly, but critically, postmodernist. Paton's earliest, fragmentary novel, 'Ship of Truth' (1922-1923) is read in some detail; his second, and only complete early novel, 'Brother Death' (1930), is commented on in as much detail as its frequently rambling nature warrants. A chapter on shorter fiction discusses his short story 'Little Barbee' (1928?), his short story 'Calvin Doone' (1930), his third novel, 'John Henry Dane' (1934), and a novel or novella, 'Secret for Seven' (1934). From all these readings it emerges that the Paton of his early fiction is markedly different from the Paton generally known: his concepts of human identity, of God and of religion, though earnest, are unformed and frequently ambivalent; his characterisation often stereotyped and wooden; his political views usually prejudiced and his stylistic and other techniques, though adequate in a young writer, highly repetitive. Various suggestions are made for future research: into South African literature from a religious perspective, into other aspects of Paton's works, and so forth. / Thesis (Ph.D. (English))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

When biological information about an individual is produced in healthcare or research settings, ethical questions may arise about whether the individual herself should be able to access it. This thesis argues that the individual’s identity-related interests warrant serious attention in framing and addressing these questions. Identity interests are largely neglected in bioethical, policy and legal debates about information access – except where information about genetic parentage is concerned. Even there, the relationship between information and identity, and the interests involved, remain unclear. This thesis seeks to fill this conceptual gap and challenge this exceptionalism. It does so by developing a normative account of the roles that a wide range of information about our health, bodies and biological relationships – ‘personal bioinformation’ – can play in the construction of our self-conceptions. This account is developed in two steps. First, building on existing philosophical theories of narrative self-constitution, this thesis proposes that personal bioinformation has a critical role to play in the construction of identity narratives that remain coherent and support us in navigating our embodied experiences. Secondly, drawing on empirical literature reporting individuals’ attitudes to receiving three categories of personal bioinformation (about donor conception, genetic disease susceptibility, and neuroimaging-based psychiatric diagnoses), the thesis seeks to illustrate, demonstrate the plausibility of, and to refine this theoretically-based proposition. From these foundations, it is argued that we can have strong identity-related interests in whether and how we are able to access bioinformation about ourselves. The practical implications of this conclusion are then explored. It is argued that identity interests are not reducible to other interests (for example, in health protection) commonly weighed in information disclosure decisions. They, therefore, warrant attention in their own right. An ethical framework is developed to guide delivery of this. This framework sets out the ethical responsibilities of those who hold bioinformation about us to respond to our identity interests in information disclosure practices and policies. The framework is informed by indications from the illustrative examples that our interests engaged as much by how bioinformation is communicated as whether it is disclosed. Moreover, these interests are not uniformly engaged by all bioinformation in all circumstances and there is potential for identity detriment as well as benefit. The ethical framework highlights the opportunities for and challenges of responding to identity interests and the scope and limits of potential disclosers’ responsibilities to do so. It also makes recommendations as to the principles and characteristics of identity-supporting disclosure practices.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation discusses the experience of nine counties in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul to form an inter-municipal consortium that resulted in the social construction of a new territory: the Fourth Colony. The study aimed to map the web of meanings that sustain the narrative about the territorial identity of the Fourth Colony, seeking also to see how this narrative is set in the identity negotiations and the gaze of visitors. The study is based on concepts that cover the contemporary identity issue nowadays, in a context permeated by large transformations in social relations and with the emergence of new identities. Combining analysis of the ethnographic research with other techniques as the analysis of discourse and content analysis of advertising materials as well as the use of structured questionnaires applied in events, it was found that the territorial identity of the Fourth Colony maintains itself under a web of meanings woven from a variety of elements. The natural and cultural heritage, customs, traditions, knowledge and practices of the old settlers are the references to belonging. The meanings of the identitary narrative are anchored, therefore, in the ethnic claim, principally Italian, referenced by a colonial past, a time constantly revisited and impassioned in the positive speeches, in the festive rituals and in other spaces of sociability. The narrative is based on myths of ancestry, having the gastronomy as an important matrix of identity and differentiation, producing constant requests for diffuse notion of belonging, with no pretensions to claim a uniqueness. Amid the negotiations set for the construction of local identity, it was found that the narrative uses a rhetoric of ethnic diversity, although extremely prevalent elements and meanings related to the Italian daily life and in the imagination of territoriality. It's known, therefore, that the construction of territorial identity of the Fourth Colony takes place in areas of interethnic friction, being immersed in power relations that maintain the narrative tied to a hegemonic order. / Esta dissertação aborda a experiência de nove municípios da região central do Rio Grande do Sul de formarem um consórcio inter-municipal, estratégia que resultou na construção social de um novo território: a Quarta Colônia. O estudo objetivou mapear a teia de significados que sustenta a narrativa sobre a identidade territorial da Quarta Colônia, buscando também verificar como esta narrativa se estabeleceu em meio às negociações identitárias e a partir do olhar dos visitantes. O estudo fundamenta-se nas noções que abrangem a questão identitária no mundo contemporâneo, em um contexto permeado por amplas transformações nas relações sociais e de consumo, bem como pela emergência de novas identidades. Tendo como base de análise o método etnográfico conjugado a técnicas de pesquisa como a análise de discurso e análise de conteúdo dos materiais de divulgação do território e em questionários estruturados aplicados em eventos, verificou-se que a identidade territorial da Quarta Colônia sustenta-se sob uma teia de significados tecida a partir de uma heterogeneidade de elementos. O patrimônio natural e cultural, os costumes, as tradições, os saberes e fazeres dos antigos colonizadores são as referências para o pertencimento. Os sentidos da narrativa identitária ancoram-se, portanto, na reivindicação étnica, principalmente da italianidade, referenciada por um passado colonial, um tempo constantemente revisitado e exaltado nos discursos afirmativos, nos rituais festivos e demais espaços de sociabilidade. A narrativa fundamenta-se em mitos de ancestralidade, tendo na gastronomia uma importante matriz de sentidos de identificação e diferenciação, produzindo uma recorrente reivindicação de uma noção de tipicidade difusa, ainda sem maiores pretensões a reivindicações de singularidades. Em meio às negociações estabelecidas para a construção da identidade territorial, verificou-se que a narrativa recorre a uma retórica da multiplicidade étnica, embora sejam amplamente predominantes os elementos e significados vinculados à italianidade no cotidiano e no imaginário da territorialidade. Revela-se, assim, que a construção da identidade territorial da Quarta Colônia se processa em espaços de fricção interétnica, estando imersa em relações de poder que dirigem a narrativa de forma hegemônica.

Este trabalho dedica-se à leitura comparada de três obras contemporâneas que versam sobre o tema do exílio: as argentinas La casa y el viento (1984), de Héctor Tizón, e En estado de memoria (1990), de Tununa Mercado; e a brasileira Rabo de foguete. Os anos de exílio (1998), de Ferreira Gullar. Nosso objetivo é delimitar a configuração de uma voz narrativa que conta uma experiência de exílio que, para tanto, move-se entre estratégias de autorepresentação vinculadas à autobiografia e, ainda, à ficção. Para levar a cabo nosso estudo, partimos de um breve panorama histórico das últimas ditaduras da Argentina e do Brasil que nos ajuda na aproximação ao tema do exílio explorado nas três obras, isto é, o exílio como uma experiência ligada aos processos políticos desses países que, na sua dimensão subjetiva, significa perdas, fissuras, identidades em crise. Logo, procuramos demonstrar que, nas três obras, a negatividade dessa experiência compromete a possibilidade de narrar os eventos de modo linear e estável, afetando, por um lado, a construção dos textos como relatos autobiográficos nos moldes canônicos, e, por outro, a construção fictícia dos acontecimentos, uma vez que a experiência está diretamente relacionada com a vida de Héctor Tizón, Tununa Mercado e Ferreira Gullar. Interessa-nos o percurso que realizam os narradores para contar sua história, marcado por uma zona de instabilidade da enunciação que se propaga por todas as categorias dos relatos (tempo, espaço e personagens) e questiona a definição de gênero. / This work dedicates the comparative reading of three contemporary works which turn on the subject of the exile: the Argentine La casa y el viento (1984), of Héctor Tizón, and En estado de memoria (1990), of Tununa Mercado; and the Brazilian Rabo de foguete. Os anos de exílio (1998), of Ferreira Gullar. Our objective is to delimit the configuration of a narrative voice that counts an exile experience which, for in such a way, moves itself between entailed strategies of auto-representation related to the autobiography and, still, to the fiction. To take handle our study, we make initially of a brief historical panorama of the last dictatorships of Argentina and Brazil that help us approaching to the subject of the exile explored in the three workmanships, that is, the exile as an experience to the politicians processes of these countries that, in its subjective dimension, mean losses, fictions, identities in crisis. Soon, we try to demonstrate that, in the three workmanships, the negativities of this experience compromises the possibility to tell the events in linear and stable way, affecting, on the other hand, the construction of the texts as autobiographical stories in the canonic molds, and, for another one, the fictitious construction of the events, a time that the experience is directly related to the life of Héctor Tizón, Tununa Mercado and Ferreira Gullar. It interests us the passage that carries through the narrators to tell its history, marked for a zone of instability of the articulation that propagates for all the categories of the stories (time, space and personages) and questions the sort definition.

Abstract The region of New England has played a strong role in the formation and development of the United States on both physical and ideological levels, and the image of the small New England town is highly evocative at both a regional and national level. It is an image shaped by an awareness of the past and the needs of the time. Alice Hoffman is a popular writer who often writes about people living in small New England towns. This thesis is a study of how Hoffman’s fictional small New England towns are created in six of her Massachusetts novels, Practical Magic (1995), The River King (2000), Blue Diary (2001), The Probable Future (2003), Blackbird House (2004) and The Red Garden (2011). To provide a framework for this study, concepts developed by cultural geographers such as sense of place and landscape are combined with imagological, sociological and historical ideas of collective memory and narrative identity. Phenomenology is at the root of the epistemological stance and concepts that are central to this study of the creation of place. Concepts of place, time and identity from across disciplines are combined in an extension of the horizons of imagology that shifts focus from national images to a broader range of images producing a cultural imagological study of the creation of Hoffman country. This study works with various levels of engagement and interaction with community in the fictional towns of the novels. The major sub-communities in The River King are used to amplify the workings of a sense of place and nostalgia in relation to rootedness. The town community as a whole is studied through Blackbird House and The Red Garden to explore how history and memory merge to create the mythology central to the identity of a town. Changing interactions with community at an individual level are scrutinized through a topobiographical study of the reconstruction of narrative identity in the novels Practical Magic and Blue Diary. The Probable Future figures around the interaction of a family with the rest of the community and this changing interaction is examined through the processes and functions of memorialization. All six novelistic towns are then examined in terms of landscape and imagined communities. Through the study, a mapping of Hoffman Country emerges and the formation of Hoffman’s imagined small New England towns is explicated. / Tiivistelmä Uuden-Englannin alue on ollut merkittävä Yhdysvaltojen alueellisessa ja ideologisessa muodostumisessa. Mielikuvat pienistä uusienglantilaisista kaupungeista miljöinä ovat voimakkaita, ja usein niihin liittyy tietoa paikkojen historiasta. Alice Hoffmann on suosittu nykykirjailija, jonka useissa teoksissa henkilöhahmot asuvat Uuden-Englannin pikkukaupungeissa. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on tarkastella, miten Hoffman rakentaa fiktiivisiä kaupunkeja kuudessa Massachusettsiin sijoittuvassa teoksessaan. Tutkimusaineistona ovat teokset Practical Magic (1995, suom. Noitasisaret), The River King (2000), Blue Diary (2001), The Probable Future (2003), Blackbird House (2004) ja The Red Garden (2011, suom. Punainen puutarha). Tässä tutkimuksessa kulttuurimaantieteellisiä käsitteitä, kuten paikkatunne (sense of place) ja maisema, on yhdistetty imagologian, sosiologian ja historian käsitteisiin kollektiivisesta muistista ja narratiivisesta identiteetistä. Näin kulttuuri-imagologia yhdistää imagologian tutkimuksen kansallisuuteen liittyvät mielikuvat mielikuviin tietystä paikasta, ajasta ja identiteetistä. Tätä teoreettista kehystä käytetään analysoitaessa Hoffmannin fiktiivisiä pienkaupunkiyhteisöjä. Tutkimuksen tietoteoreettisena perustana on fenomenologinen näkemys ja käsitteistö. Kulttuuri-imagologian kautta tarkastellaan Hoffmannin romaaneissaan rakentamia yhteisöjä ja miljöitä. Olennaisimmat yhteisöt romaanissa The River King vahvistavat paikan ymmärryksen ja nostalgisuuden merkityksen henkilöhahmojen kokemalle juurettomuudelle. Kaupunkiyhteisöjä on tarkasteltu novellikokoelmien Blackbird House ja The Red Garden avulla osoittamaan, miten historia ja muisti toimivat rakentaen mytologista paikan identiteettiä. Yksilöiden toisistaan erottuva yhteisöllinen vuorovaikutus analysoidaan topobiografisella tavalla rekonstruoitaessa narratiivista identiteettiä romaaneissa Practical Magic ja Blue Diary. The Probable Future -teoksen hahmojen vuorovaikutus perheen sisällä ja muun yhteisön kanssa ilmentää muistelmallisuuden prosessia. Kaikkia kuutta fiktiivistä kaupunkia tarkastellaan maiseman ja fiktiivisen yhteisöllisyyden näkökulmista. Tämä tutkimus osoittaa Alice Hoffmanin uusienglantilaisiin pikkukaupunkeihin sijoittuvien teosten analyysin avulla, miten kirjailijat voivat käyttää ja muokata teoksissaan mielikuvia paikoista luodessaan tunnesiteitä yksilöiden, yhteisöjen ja miljöiden välille.

The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic study was to addresses how the existence of counterspaces influences the psychological well-being of offender-labeled youth transitioning back into society. A counterspace has been defined as a social setting where two or more individuals come together to challenge deficit notions. No longer is recidivism solely being placed on offender-labeled youth that reside within juvenile correctional facilities, therefore the need for innovative programs that help develop resistance narratives and promote reengagement with the educational system are needed. In this 12-week qualitative ethnographic study the two concepts of restorative practices and narrative identity work are blended together and reconceptualized to create something new Restorative Identity Work. From an ontological perspective, the educational experiences within the counterspace (Room 21) was shared utilizing a musical playlist. The playlist is used to provide a thick description of the 12-session leadership group that was designed to be a resource for offender-labeled youth to become eligible for the high school Student Council within the correctional facility. Through the use of journals, theme songs, restorative practices, and narrative identity work, offender-labeled youth gradually gained a deeper understanding of their role in social narratives. The leadership group resulted in six out of nine offender-labeled youth becoming members of the Student Council and fostered the development of resistance narratives for all nine students.

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This is a study about the identity work of managers working for sustainable enterprises. Contrary to CSR managers who are constantly managing tensions between achieving social and environmental goals while working at a company whose aim is to maximise profits, the identities of managers working for sustainable enterprises, do not indicate that they are experiencing contradictions between sustainable and commercial discourses. We show how the managers' self values and beliefs are aligned with their role and the organisational goals of the company. These managers, above all, focus on facilitating sustainability and use commercial and economic tools to reach their goals. In addition, our study shows a dominant theme of self- actualization that surrounds and influences the managers' identities. Drawn by the sustainability field, these managers seem to have found in their workplaces, a perfect platform to fulfil themselves. Finally we show how these managers become political actors directing their actions towards changing systems in society. We argue that our findings can be an example of a broader shift towards sustainable discourses in businesses, where we can also see reflexivity gaining ground as a form of managerial practice in organisations. We suggest that there can be hope found in these new organisations, and that it might be possible to strive towards social, environmental and economic goals at the same time.

The purpose of this research was to explore how music student teachers make sense of classroom events during the student teaching internship using a required Video Reflection Assignment. Three questions guided this study: 1) How did student teachers use aspects of three-dimensional narrative space (temporality, sociality, and space) to story classroom events? 2) What aspects of Reflective Practice did student teachers illustrate in their Video Reflection Assignments? 3) How did student teachers reveal their identities as musicians and teachers through their reflections? Data were Video Reflection Worksheets (VRW), video-recorded teaching episodes (videos), and participant questionnaires. Analysis combined narrative, case study, and grounded theory techniques. Participants' answers on VRWs revealed aspects of their musician and teacher identities, dilemmas of practice caused by classroom events and conflicting stories with cooperating teachers, and provided insight into the ways participants either rationalized or reflected on classroom events. Results of the study contribute to the profession's understanding of the interplay of musician and teacher identities, and point to the importance of attending to narratives of identity revealed in student teachers' reflections through language use, as well as the alignment of student teachers' and cooperating teachers' storied identities when assigning internship placements. Additionally, results raise important questions concerning student teachers' abilities to use reflective assignments like the one in this study to self-reflect, and point to the usefulness of three-dimensional narrative space and MacKinnon's clues to detecting reflective activity for reframing teacher-educator's evaluations of student teachers' reflections. / Music Education