In this thesis I propose that emotions and rationality are integrated, and jointly constitute our moral agency. I argue against the influential ‘sentimentalist’ claim that emotions are the only constituents of the moral reasons for which we act, by showing that emotions are inextricably bound up with our sensory and conceptual capacities. In contrast, I propose we act for moral reasons when we act in light of the narratives we create and understand. Narrative understanding here is the capacity to inhabit a chain of events. It is embodied and action-­‐ orientated, and is co-­‐constituted through our emotional, conceptual and sensory capacities.

This project represents one of the few major pieces of research into women’s narratives of political incarceration and is an examination of first person accounts written against a backdrop of significant historical events in twentieth-century Germany. I explore the ways in which the writers use their published accounts as an attempt to come to terms with their incarceration (either during or after their imprisonment). Such an undertaking involves examining how the writer ‘performs’ femininity within the de-feminising context of prison, as well as how she negotiates her self-representation as a ‘good’ woman. The role of language as a means of empowerment within the disempowering environment of incarceration is central to this investigation. Rosa Luxemburg’s prison letters are the starting point for the project. Luxemburg was a key female political figure in twentieth-century Germany and her letters encapsulate prevalent notions about womanhood, prison, and political engagement that are perceptible in the subsequent texts of the thesis. Luise Rinser’s and Lore Wolf’s diaries from National Socialist prisons show, in their different ways, how the writer uses language to ‘survive’ prison and to constitute herself as a subject and woman in response to the loss of self experienced in incarceration. Margret Bechler’s and Elisabeth Graul’s retrospective accounts of GDR incarceration give insight into the elastic concept of both the political prisoner and the ‘good’ woman. They demonstrate their authors’ endeavours to achieve a sense of autonomy and reclaim the experience of prison using narrative. All of the narratives are examples of the role of language in resisting an imposed identity as ‘prisoner’, ‘criminal’ and object of the prison system.

This study provides a theoretical and methodological contribution to ongoing debates relating to the purpose and nature of international higher education. It does so by examining globalisation, lifelong learning and postgraduate international study through the voice of the individual student. The voice of the student is under represented in the literature and this research contributes by providing an in-depth, longitudinal study focusing on the student voice. The experiences of international postgraduate students within one English university from 2009-2014 provide the research context. Their experience is explored through a number of integrated and interactive narrative based research methods: written narratives, interview narratives and narratives as conversations in action. There is a dearth of empirical research which integrates these methods. It is not an intention of this study to make generalisation claims or to claim universal applicability. However, the findings do add to knowledge relating to internationalisation, globalisation, lifelong learning and identity construction within higher education programmes. The neoliberal economic view of motivation to become an international student is contested. This study suggests that motivation to take on a period of international study may be more complex and more heavily weighted towards passion, rather than towards an economic or employment based rationale. Participants do demonstrate many of the qualities identified for the international or globalised learner. However, international experience and international learning is largely brought about the agency of the international student, often in spite of, rather than as an outcome of their formal university programme of study. The study confirms that culture and identity are permeable and are influenced by the postgraduate student experience. However, nationality rather than being reduced is reinforced during the period of international study. The findings confirm that narrative research approaches such as those used in this research, can provide a rich learning experience for both participant and researcher. Such approaches may be of particular importance to individuals in transition stages, such as the international student.

In this article, I investigate the video game BioShock for its political and cultural work and argue that it offers a popular platform to discuss the politically charged question of choice, both inside and outside the realm of video games. In a first section, I introduce the game’s basic plot and setting, propose a way to study how video games operate narratively, and briefly discuss the ‘political’ dimension of games in general. Afterwards, I look at how BioShock is influenced by Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism, a philosophy that emphasizes the importance of individual choice and self-interest, and I trace this influence specifically in the game’s main antagonist, Andrew Ryan, and its setting, the underwater city of Rapture. With these elements as a basis, I analyze how BioShock engages with the politics of choice, focusing on a major twist scene in the game to demonstrate how BioShock deals with the question of choice on a metatextual level. Reading this scene in the context of the game’s overall narrative, specifically of moral choices in the game that lead to different endings, I argue that the game metatextually connects the political question of choice inherent in objectivism to the narrative and the playing of the game, pointing to the ambivalences inherent in questions of choice, agency, and free will.

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