<p>This thesis examines how two narrators construe their experiences of the same events differently through the linguistic choices that they make, through a systemic functional analysis, as well as a genre analysis of two testimonies. The Human Rights Violations (HRV) hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) allowed testifiers to tell stories of their experiences during apartheid. The selected testimonies refer to the events that led up to the arrest and eventual torture of Faried Muhammad Ferhelst, as told by himself and his mother, Minnie Louisa Ferhelst. Theframeworks used to analyse the testimonies are drawn from the transitivity and genre theories of Systemic Functional Linguistics. A clausal analysis of the transitivity patterns is used to compare the ways in which the testifiers construct their identities and roles when recounting their stories. The transitivity analysis of both testimonies shows that both Mrs Ferhelst and Faried Ferhelst construe themselves as the Affected participant through Material, Mental and Verbal clauses, and construe the police as the Causers, mostly through Material clauses. A genre analysis revealed that both testimonies took the form of narratives, in particular the Recount, a typical genre for relating narratives of personal experience. This research project also explores how the original Afrikaans versions of the testimonies differ from the translated English versions, available online on the TRC website. The Afrikaans versions were transcribed by the researcher from&nbsp / audio-visual records. A transitivity analysis reveals that the interpretation of the Afrikaans testimonies is fairly accurate, with a minimum loss of meaning. Thus in the case of these testimonies, the&nbsp / actual online record in English is an accurate reflection of their stories.</p>

Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 136-142).

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:20:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 tese_-_revisada_-_Suelma_Moraes_compativel_word_2003_PDF.pdf: 1062497 bytes, checksum: 283e29e64243a3ed65c0e5dc0fcb2b57 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-09-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Self knowledge and knowledge of God are tightly interwoven in Augustines Confessions. In Book X of this work, various narratives have a key role in the dialectical movement between self knowledge and knowledge of God, whose most important perspective is that of memory as giving form to the existential cogito. It is thus examined, in Augustine&#8223;s narrative, the relationship between the interpretation of the Scriptures and the becoming of the self. One finds in this relationship aspects of the inner discourse and of an identity-narrative approach of the narrative theory. The coming-to-be of the self relies on an internal dialectical movement of the character, which balances self acknowledgement against self denial, thus presenting mans immanence as a personal feature and, simultaneously, mens desire for transcending what they value as their most intimate relationship to God. This thesis examines the tension created by the vision man has of self knowledge and the vision man has of God in his search for happiness.(AU) / O conhecimento de si e o conhecimento de Deus estabelecem uma relação fundamental na obra mais conhecida de Agostinho, Confissões. O livro X das Confissões contém as narrativas centrais para a análise da dialética entre o conhecimento de si e o conhecimento de Deus, que tem como chave de leitura a memória para a constituição do cogito existencial. É examinada a relação que existe, no texto narrativo de Agostinho, entre a interpretação da Escritura e a constituição do si, em que há aspectos do discurso interior e abordagem no quadro da teoria narrativa que é dada a partir do conceito de identidade narrativa. A constituição do si é desenvolvida na dialética interna do personagem entre a afirmação de si e a negação de si, que apresenta a imanência do homem como característica pessoal e, ao mesmo tempo, o desejo de transcendência daquilo que o ser humano tem de mais íntimo em relação a Deus. Esta é uma análise da tensão existente entre a visão que o ser humano tem da consciência de si e a que ele tem de Deus, na busca pela felicidade.(AU)

This research builds on previous studies that have documented evidence of Professor Anna Craft’s concept of ‘Possibility Thinking’ (PT) as at the heart of creativity which involves children transitioning from ‘what is this?’ to ‘what can I or we do with this?’ as well as imagining ‘as if’ they were in a different role. My thesis titled “Communicating Possibilities” examines English nursery children's emergent creativity, exploring the three to four-year-old child as an artistic communicator and possibility thinker through a case study approach situated in one primary school in South West England. Three main research questions were posed concerning the ‘what, how, and why’ of creativity when children communicated through art; as well as exploring the nurturing role of others, and identity manifest through voice and learning experience. This doctoral study is essentially interpretivist in nature seeking to explain how people make sense of their social worlds, and is an exploration framed by culturally negotiated, shared meanings, and complex social relations. Data was collected over one school year, in three nine-week research phases by the following ethnographic methods: naturalistic observations; researcher diary; children’s creative journals; and practitioner interviews. These methods were repeated for each phase. Inductive and deductive data analysis was conducted. Undertaken over time as the project unfolded, a grounded theory approach was applied in total to 27 episodes. Micro event analysis of creative behaviours in action and narrative discourses of two kinds: peer-to-peer, and child-to-adult (teacher, early years practitioner, and my researcher dialogue) revealed four broad critical themes: Observing and documenting children’s creativity; What children can do together- recognising differences; Pedagogy of possibilities- developing a role; and The value of artistic communication in the nursery classroom. Each is discussed in terms of the key implications these themes hold for theory, policy, and early years practice.

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.

One of the consequences of emphasizing plurality – so characteristic for current masculinity studies – is that the question of commonalities and similarities of masculinities has been neglected, and therefore the relationship between mas- culinity as a concept and its plural forms has to be rethought. One way of doing this involves conceiving of masculinity as having a largely discursive or narrative structure and focusing on the relationality and interdependency of masculinities by paying special attention to stories and genres as their paramount components. If one takes narrative to be an ontological condition of social life which exemplarily manifests itself in literature and the arts, it is precisely here that a plethora of narratives of masculinity becomes ‘visible’ in a reading process that can be conceptualized as an act of imagining and a process of transfer during which readers perpetually ‘stage’ themselves, while the performative function of narrative allows for a variety of new masculine gender identities that become available through their very conception in literature/art. Combining comparative masculinity studies with the concept of narrative paves the way for a new, more encompassing, relational and intersectional understanding, if not definition of masculinity.

Given the strong emphasis on plurality, which is so characteristic of current masculinity studies, the relationship between masculinity as a concept and its plural forms has to be rethought. If we conceive of masculinity as having a largely discursive and narrative structure and accept that narrative is an ontological condition of social life which exemplarily manifests itself in literature and the arts, it is precisely here that a plethora of narratives of masculinity becomes ‘visible’, with the performative function of narrative allowing for a variety of new masculine gender identities and subject positions that only become available through their conception in literature/the arts.

No description available.

The entrance of women into ordained ministry positions is a relatively new phenomenon in the North American Christian church, and has yet to be given adequate scholarly attention. This thesis probes the experiences of several pioneering women, presenting both the substantial and theoretical contributions emerging from a qualitative study of female pastors ministering in Protestant congregations across Canada. Data collection and analysis were approached through the lens of symbolic interactionism and grounded theory. The main findings emerging from 44 qualitative, in-depth interviews have been organized into three distinct papers to constitute a sandwich dissertation. The first paper outlines how some women experience a “call” to ministry and how this change in trajectory impacts their identity and constructions of the past, while the second two papers address different facets of performing the pastoral role once within it. Paper 2 explores the dilemmas women encounter in the area of clothing and appearances, a concern many of the women identified as influencing their performance of the pastoral role. Paper 3 explores in greater depth the ways women feel they perform the pastoral role differently than their male counterparts, and raises questions about the impact this may have on changing the role in the future. Taken together, the three papers contribute to a broad range of debates in the theoretical literature about key facets of the human experience, including: changing career trajectories, role making and performance of self, and microlevel influences on institutional change. The dissertation also encourages a new direction for sociological research – human interactions with the divine. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis investigates what it is like to be a female pastor in the Christian church in Canada, as women have only recently been able to be fully ordained in most Protestant denominations. Three themes are explored: (1) how women decide to enter into Christian ministry, (2) how they navigate dilemmas around clothing in the pastoral role, and (3) how they feel they do pastoral ministry differently than their male counterparts. On a more theoretical level, this thesis also helps us understand the experiences of women entering traditionally male occupations, illuminating how they – and perhaps anyone who undergoes a career transition – navigate changes in work roles and identities, how clothing can help them achieve legitimacy in a role, and how women may be changing the professions they enter into in large numbers by doing their work differently.

This research explores constructions and understandings of fluctuating or recurring impairments in Higher Education in the UK. It considers ways in which institutional discourses within one UK University have shaped policy and provision for disabled students, and how students with fluctuating or recurring impairments negotiate and enact identities in this context. For many students, impairments such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/ myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), epilepsy or diabetes, for example, have the potential to vary in intensity, and thus impact, on participation in learning activities and on self-perception/ identity. With increasing disclosure, yet limited recognition, of such types of impairment comes a need for institutions to better understand changing impact in terms of inclusion and in observing anticipatory aspects of legislation, as well as furthering insight into how student identities are negotiated and constructed in an educational context. This research uses a social constructionist framework to explore constructions and subjectivities as regards fluctuating or recurring impairments, and comprises both staff and student perspectives. The staff perspective is based on the thematic narrative analysis of interviews with three members of staff, and is presented in conjunction with an example of institutional policy to highlight discourses drawn upon in constructing disability and disabled students. The impact of these discourses on institutional constructions and practice is key to the analysis. The student perspective is based on two phases of data collection: firstly, 24 semi-structured interviews with students who self-described a fluctuating or recurring impairment; and secondly, five students’ responses to six bi-weekly emails over the course of one academic trimester (January – April 2011). Summary data from the first phase is used to frame discussion on issues raised by students regarding institutional constructions and support. A ‘hybrid’ narrative analysis framework incorporating positioning analysis as well as both ‘big’ and ‘small stories’ has been used in analysing the phase two data. The approach considers the influence of institutional discourses on how students are positioned institutionally and position themselves, as well as ways in which performances of identity may be shaped. The thesis concludes by considering the implications of the research outcomes for Higher Education. In so doing, it notes the significance of policy implementation and cultural change, and makes recommendations for areas of focus in raising institutional awareness of fluctuating or recurring impairments within existing constructions of disability.