To date, research delving into the narratives of living with dementia during mealtimes is limited. The methodology used is thematic narrative analysis, following the elements of a 3D narrative inquiry space proposed by Clandinin and Connelly (2000). The purpose was to develop stories by reconstructing participants’ experiences to capture insight into how mealtimes change overtime and how adaptations reflect resilience. Two themes and several subthemes were revealed. The first major theme is ‘Developing strategies for positive adaptation’, with four subthemes including reminiscing, incorporating humour, establishing social support, and having hope and optimism. The second major theme is ‘Continuing to learn and adapt’, with three subthemes including focusing on the positive gains and personal growth, balancing past pleasures while adapting to the new normal, and accumulating life experiences. This work serves as a basis for future studies examining into the concept of resilience among families living with dementia in greater depth. / SSHRC

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze stories that don’t often get told or heard. Traditionally, nonreligious people have had to keep their lack of belief to themselves out of fear of persecution. In the literature review of this dissertation, I summarize previous scholarship about leaving religion. In an effort to learn about autobiographies written by nonreligious women, I utilize storytelling as a theoretical framework, located within the rhetorical uses of personal narratives, and ask: What are the types of challenges, experiences, and topics that nonreligious women include in their stories?; How do these autobiographies invite readers to understand personal accounts of religious departure?; and How do these autobiographies invite social change and consciousness raising? To answer these questions, I applied thematic narrative analysis, from a rhetorical perspective, as a way to discover the commonalities amongst the stories, as well as the unique characteristics that each story possesses. While each woman had a unique story, there were five common themes that emerged among the memoirs: family, intellectual, relational, sociocultural, and professional. Inspired by the language of the “women’s sphere,” I labeled each of the themes as a realm in the “sphere of life” with hope that the sphere of life can help explain how religion influences a person’s life. I discovered that, even though some of the women lost some relationships with family and friends, all of the women mentioned that they are happier now that they are being true to themselves. The authors also mentioned that it is important to be at peace with who they are since this is likely their one and only life. With that in mind, it is important to have choice and authenticity in one’s life. Finally, this study demonstrated the power of storytelling and how autobiographies can invite social and attitudinal change.

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This study focuses on exploring the relationship between domestic workers and the children they help to raise from the child’s perspective, using attachment theory (Bowlby, 1988) and psychoanalytic theory (referring specifically to Klein (1952) and Fairbairn (1952/2006) as some theoretical bases). Also, the concepts of the social unconscious (Weinberg, 2007) and social ghosts (Gergen, 2000) are used to provide a link to the relationship having social implications and functions in the South African context. All theories were used in an anti-essentialistic, reflexive and heuristic way, without reification or objectification of the various terms and concepts within the theories. Also, the paradigmatic point of departure for this research is postmodernism (Apignanesi, Sadar, Curry&Garrat, 2003), focusing on the contextual and socially constructed view of knowledge production. From this point of departure, the methodology is qualitative and the research design autoethnographic (Bochner, 1997; Ellis 1998; 2000; Muncey, 2005; Holman Jones, 2005). My own story is presented where I have used various data sources such as my own memories, a letter (Babbie&Mouton, 2008), and photographs which were analysed according to the principles of visual narrative analysis found in Riessman (2008) primarily. Further data was collected through the use of two radio talk shows, where participants were invited to share their stories with regard to being raised by a domestic worker. This data was analysed using thematic narrative analysis (Riessman, 2008), in which the narratives (kept as whole as possible) were analysed, each case in turn, using themes from the narratives themselves and deductive psychoanalytic themes. Some of the themes elicited were possession (where charges felt in possession of their domestic worker), absence (in relation to the child’s biological mother experienced both by domestic workers biological children and the domestic workers charges), loss (especially in relation to a caregiver), the male caregiver (a paternal figure to his charges), the politicisation of the relationship (the relationship between domestic worker and charge as product of a political system), reconciliation and action (a call for empathy and change), and an intertwining of cultures (where black and white, male and female, rich and poor exist inextricably linked with one another as a product of segregation). I have also maintained a consistent critical and reflexive stance throughout. In conclusion I have presented the contribution of this work to social science and society. Similarly, some limitations of this study are presented, as well as directions for further research. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Psychology / unrestricted

This master’s thesis investigates poetic text writing through a teaching project conducted on a secondary school class in Sweden. Inspired by ekphrastic poetry, the teaching project consisted of poetry and literature reading. The students visited a sculpture related to the literature, upon which they wrote poetic texts about the sculpture. The main purpose of the study is to describe how teaching in the Swedish subject can make use of Swedish language teaching by developing students’ poetic texts that touches on topics such as living conditions and identity. Drawing from thematic narrative analysis, most notably Bamberg’s positioning model, the analysis investigates the narratives constructed in the students’ poetic texts as well as identity aspects negotiated through the narratives. The students’ identities were further discovered through participant observation and semi-structured interviews to deepen the understanding of the meeting between art, identity and learning.The general perception drawn from the interviewees’ answers is that the Swedish subject rarely includes knowledge of nor writing of poetic texts. However, the study emphasises that poetry could have an integral part of the education in the Swedish subject in secondary education.The results show that the students’ poetic texts tend to relate to the sculpture and the physical environment, as well as the social context of the environment. Furthermore, the identities of the students were shown to have a high relevance in the writing process. The teaching project was based on principles of culturally sustaining pedagogy and aimed at contributing to the sociocultural support of the school. As the students’ language and cultural backgrounds proved to be significant in the writing process, it became evident that multilingualism was a natural part of the student’s everyday school life.