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This article presents an existential framework for understanding loss and grief. Since not all experiences of loss lead to grief, I begin by exploring what constitutes grievable losses. The dominant approach in grief research has been to understand grief in terms of bereavement. In light of emerging discourses on living and non-death losses, this approach no longer seems tenable, and the contemporary debate requires an account of grievability that extends beyond bereavement. In response to this challenge, I propose a two-part existential framework. The first part introduces mourning as a ground attunement, suggesting that our finitude is the basis for generalized experiences of loss. The second part posits that specific grievable losses reflect a loss of identity. To explain this, I introduce the concept of existential identity and four associated axes susceptible to loss. Lastly, I demonstrate how this framework can be used to analyze loss as complex existential experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout London’s history, marketplaces have not only been integral to its economy but also to how the city was imagined. Drawing on a diverse range of archives and sources—from tabloid journalism and film, through to oral history and photography—this article examines the ‘narration of London’ at one of the city’s most famous market sites, Smithfield. It focuses upon three moments when London’s meat market came to be seen as emblematic of the city’s story: as an ‘anvil’ for modernisation in the mid-nineteenth century; as an ‘insider’s’ account of the commercial empire in the early twentieth century; and as the last remnant of a ‘London lost’ on the eve of a new millennium. This article argues that the narrative power of the marketplace lies in its capacity for temporal rupture and connection—an ideal stage for dramatising the relationship between urban past and present. It shows how starkly and stereotypically gendered representations of Smithfield’s male workforce became one important means of understanding and articulating urban change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in the concept of narrative identity has grown over the past several decades in conjunction with the deepening recognition of the lifelong pursuit of authenticity in the development of the self. One area relevant to this endeavour that has heretofore not been explored theoretically or clinically is found in the intersection of narrative theory and object relations theory. This paper introduces the concept of narrative play, a weaving together of a narrative approach with the work of D.W. Winnicott, and examines the rich clinical potential that may be found in the integration of these two lines of thought. Following an overview of key narrative concepts and a discussion of the relevant aspects of Winnicott’s work, the construct of narrative play will be described and illustrated through a clinical vignette. The relevance and impact of narrative play for the reimagining of the self in the context of the therapeutic relationship will be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abbasabad is one of the largest symbolic political urban projects in contemporary Iran, covering over 5.5 million square metres. Despite its constant political significance since the 1960s and envisioning six exclusive master plans during two regimes, the project faced considerable delays and devastating fragmentation. While all the narratives attribute the unsuccessful history in Abbasabad to macropolitical drawbacks, this study traces the failure by focusing on the emergence of an unseen, non-discursive, and non-human actor. This actor is the highway, which is present throughout Abbasabad and divides the announced official project into several regions, each with its distinct functions and visions. Because the project is ultimately a loss, its history of failure matters more than the official narratives represented in the master plans. Using the Foucauldian genealogical approach and shifting from the notion of politics to relational politics given in ANT, highways emerge as actors with different roles and significant impacts, evolving and interacting unstoppably with Abbasabad. This narrative takes a more grounded perspective, indicating that highways have influenced the master plans, not vice versa. Moreover, politicians had the opportunity to consider such factors; however, macropolitical forces belittled them by pursuing mega-scaled integrated concepts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/BackgroundDesign/MethodsResultsConclusionInfertility diagnosis and related treatment can cause profound psychological discomfort and a variety of psychopathological symptoms. This study aims at investigating Referential Process linguistic measures applied to autobiographical memories of women facing fertility issues, hypothesising to find different elaboration and symbolisation capabilities according to the specific memories expressed.Forty-four women (mean age 36.05; SD = 4.66) undergoing Assisted Reproduction Treatment (ART) enrolled at a Hospital fertility medical department in Rome completed a brief socio-demographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The interviews aimed to collect memories of a neutral event, a positive event, a negative event, and the moment they realised that the couple had a fertility problem. The transcriptions of the interviews were analysed using Referential Process (RP) linguistic measures with IDAAP software.Data analysis revealed several significant differences in RP linguistic measures when comparing the different autobiographical episodes. Specifically, the narrative regarding the process of gaining awareness about fertility issues exhibited a high use of abstract words and a strong reflection and reorganisation process, but a low symbolisation process compared to other episodes. Women engaged in this narrative seem to provide explanations for the infertility issues rather than discussing an awareness process. This is consistent with the use of abstract and reflective language, which is related to defensive strategies as the use of rationalisation with emotional distancing in infertility episodes emerged.This highlights the importance of addressing women’s internal emotional processing at the onset of ART to promote both mental and physical wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines Betty Friedan's political narrative of women's progress, which I argue to be essential to her liberal feminist politics of gender equality and mainstreaming of women. Through a close reading of The Feminine Mystique, a cultural exposé and work of social movement literature, I draw critical attention to the narrative construction of women's progress, which Friedan equated with women's full integration into mainstream American society through productivity, individuality, and growth. At the same time, I note that such a narrative of women's progress, though enthusiastically embraced by white middle-class suburban housewives in the 1960s, simultaneously marginalized women of colour, working-class women, and lesbians. Furthermore, Friedan's narrative of women's progress and mainstreaming, threatened by the rise of the conservative antifeminist backlash and the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1980s, was reconfigured into a conservative narrative of pro-family and postfeminism while celebrating white middle-class women's ascendance to neoliberal capitalism. In lieu of a conclusion, I propose a cautionary tale of the rise of the neoliberal discourse of postfeminism to which Friedan's narrative of women's progress and mainstreaming has been conducive, if not integral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historic fabric are increasingly at risk because they disregard the sense of place in urban regeneration projects, which jeopardises regional identities and customs. This study explores the processes underlying the creation of place meanings among users in historic urban bazaars, examining the attributes of lived space that contribute to the development of a sense of place and generate meaning through behavioural practices. Using the lived space of spatial triad theory as a theoretical framework, this research employs a hybrid methodological approach that combines phenomenological and grounded theory methods. Data are collected through semistructured interviews, onsite observations, and questionnaires, with analysis conducted via N-Vivo. By employing the lived space of spatial triad theory, this research offers a nuanced perspective on how historic urban bazaars function as living museums that foster pluralistic societies, cultural innovation, and economic fluidity within a contemplative environment. These insights underscore the importance of incorporating local memories and feelings into heritage conservation and urban regeneration projects, as these elements are crucial for maintaining the unique identity and vibrancy of historic sites. This study contributes to international scholarship on the lived space of historical sites by providing a focused examination of the dynamic forces shaping sense of place identity over time in historic bazaars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the final season of the Norwegian drama series Skam ("Shame") (2015–2017), the protagonist Sana, navigating in a secular, liberal youth culture, is a practicing Muslim wearing the hijab. The series is analysed as an instance of public religious education focusing on the issue of representation. This approach is informed by the ethical turn in narrative studies, warranting and problematising representations of the other. Stigmatisation and normalising strategies are examined and discussed as part of the plot structure with an emphasis on the portrayal of Sana. The series presents a process towards self-determination in a distinct portrait of a young, Muslim woman's agency. Liberal values are privileged, and the issue of racism is put aside. In the development of the plot, stigmatisation is subject to depoliticisation, bringing forward a utopian vision of a liberal, diverse society. While the series turns out to be a rich, educational resource, Skam calls for critical explorations within a reflexive religious education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older adults with bipolar disorder experience distinct challenges compared to younger age groups with bipolar disorder. They potentially require adaptations to the care they receive. This study aimed to explore experiences of care and changing care needs in older adults with bipolar disorder. People with bipolar disorder (aged ≥60) were recruited through three NHS Trusts in the North West of England, charity organisations, a confidential university participant database, and social media. Participants completed single time-point biographical narrative interviews, which were analysed using narrative analysis. Sixteen participants' accounts led to the creation of four themes: (1) 'Navigating the disruption caused by diagnosis'; (2) 'The removal of services that provided hope'; (3) 'Later life: We are on our own now'; and (4) 'Changing care needs in later life: We still need support'. The care needs of older adults with bipolar disorder appear to change over time, and services often fail to offer adequate, tailored care for this group at present. Current support requires adaptation to be effective and appropriate and to enable this group to age well in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of etymological reasoning in the earliest Rus'ian historical compilation, commonly known as Primary Chronicle (Kyiv, AD 1110s). Understood as any explanation of the origins or meaning of words, from popular etymologizing to what Latinists would call etymologia proper, from mere statements of derivation to interpretative explanations rooted in word similarities, etymological reflection is unexpectedly productive in the earliest Rus'ian annals. Close text analysis reveals that it sometimes consists of simple statements about the origins of toponymy based on phonetic coincidences, yet that it also may operate as a complex device that subtly weaves wordplay into a narrative's plot. In this way, etymological reasoning emerges as a versatile tool that maps territory and cements foundational legends, thus contributing to shape the historical narrative of the distant past of Rus'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade there has been a massive spike in use of the word 'narrative' in both media reportage and political discourse. This essay interrogates the rhetorical function and theoretical assumptions of this widespread usage, arguing that narrative rhetoric operates as a form of metajournalistic discourse shaping coverage of domestic politics and international relations while revealing an anxiety about the authority of contemporary news media. The prominence and semantic variability of the word narrative in public discourse is both a symptom of and a response to an epistemological crisis wrought by information overload and a fragmented public sphere in the digital age. The essay examines usage of the familiar phrase 'control the narrative' to reveal how journalistic discourse self-reflexively frames the dynamics of cultural debate. In this formulation, 'the narrative' operates as a synonym for what Chadwick (2017) calls the 'political information cycle' in a hybrid news system, signifying an ongoing discursive struggle in which news media construct their moral and epistemological Others in a global communications network: social media, foreign state-run media, and competing news media. By tracking the phrase in coverage of the global COVID-19 outbreak and the notorious Steele Dossier in five major US dailies throughout 2020, this article demonstrates how the metajournalistic quality of narrative rhetoric facilitates an intramedia struggle for moral and referential authority in the networked public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses a narrative approach to explore how role modelling unfolds throughout the start-up process. Drawing on the experiences of 25 nascent and novice entrepreneurs, we illustrate how attributes of role models, role modelling outcomes, and related mechanisms change for entrepreneurs over time. Our emerging theoretical model highlights three distinctive role modelling narratives: 'Taking the Leap', 'Learning the Trade', and 'Soothing the Nerves'. Our work expands existing role modelling research in entrepreneurship by looking beyond the impact of role models on entrepreneurs prior to starting-up and highlighting that role modelling continues to unfold and influence entrepreneurs throughout the start-up process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is significant variation in HCC management across different centers with poor adherence to evidence-based clinical practice guidelines as assessed in prior studies. In Australia, quality indicators (QIs) have recently been proposed by a multidisciplinary group of experts to help provide a framework to assess and monitor the quality of HCC care. In this review, we discuss the many areas where real-world practice deviates from evidence-based medicine, the role that QI sets play in addressing this gap, and the similarities and differences between Australian QIs and other leading treatment guidelines and QI sets from around the world. We focus on the utility of QI sets to identify opportunities for targeted improvement in the real-world clinical environment. We conclude with a discussion about the formation of a national clinical quality registry as a long-term measure to facilitate continual improvements in patient care within and across sites in order to optimize patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This auto‐netnographic study explores the impact of neoliberal ideologies on teacher identity within the context of public education in Spain, with a particular focus on how social networks and media, such as Twitter and Facebook, shape and reflect these dynamics. Combining narrative introspection with thematic analysis of online content, the study examines how social media amplifies neoliberal values, including individualism, commodification and competitive appraisal, influencing teacher subjectivity and solidarity. By situating the findings within the Spanish educational landscape, the study highlights how localised socio‐political dynamics intersect with global neoliberal trends. The results reveal that social media serves as both a platform for ideological critique and a site where collective identities are fragmented, contributing to the erosion of solidarity amongst educators. Ultimately, this research advocates for reclaiming public education values through critical reflection and dialogue, promoting a more equitable and humane educational system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are poor at story-telling and show weaknesses in various executive functions (EFs). Narrative tasks are frequently used in clinical assessment to capture the linguistic vulnerabilities of individuals with DLD. But we know little about the demands of different narrative tasks on EFs. This study explores the relationship between EFs in a daily life context and performance on two narrative tasks. Fourteen Mandarin-speaking preschoolers with DLD and 34 typically-developing (TD) controls completed a story generation and a story recall task. Their parents filled out the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions-Preschool (BRIEF-P). The TD group outperformed the DLD group on narrative macrostructure and microstructure, and the inhibit, shift, and global executive composites of the BRIEF-P. On the story recall task, after controlling for standardised language test scores, working memory scores explained unique variance in both narrative macrostructure and microstructure performance. On the story generation task, after controlling for language skills, macrostructure performance was predicted by inhibit, working memory, and plan/organisation composites, and microstructure performance was predicted by the inhibit composite. Narrative recall relies heavily on working memory capacity as children must recall the details provided in the mature adult model; narrative generation requires multiple EFs as children must plan the organisation of story elements, selectively attend to relevant visual details in the pictorial stimuli, and monitor their own language production. The findings have implications for understanding the sources of language difficulties in DLD and the selection of narrative task in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies showed a positive effect of stories on Theory of Mind (ToM) performance. The aim of the present exploratory study was to investigate whether and how a specific aspect of narrative, i.e., character perspective, modulates the brain activation in response to a ToM task and improve the accuracy. Fifty participants were divided in three groups based on the text assigned: first-person perspective group (1 G; n = 16), third-person perspective group (3 G; n = 18) and a scientific essay group (EG; n = 16). The electroencephalographic and behavioral responses to eyes expressions, taken from the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test, were recorded pre-(T0) and post-(T1) reading task. The main results showed a greater N100 on left fronto-central electrodes and a greater P220–400 on right temporo-parietal electrodes in response to eye expressions at T1 compared to T0 in 3 G. A lower N220–400 was found on right fronto-central in response to eye expressions at T1 compared to T0 in 1 G and 3 G. The results suggest that, although reading first- and third-person stories modulates self-processes in a similar way, third-person stories involve an early stage of processing and a more extended neural network including anterior-posterior brain sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses relations between concepts of 'self', 'other(s)' and 'othering' through a reading of the revolutionary psychiatrist Frantz Fanon's psychoaffective phenomenological and pedagogical narrative approach, reading his work as phenomenological and educational as well as critiquing phenomenology, psychology, education and (of course) psychiatry. While most—especially educational—commentators base their engagement with Fanon's revolutionary materialist phenomenology of racialised embodiment and consciousness on his first book, Black Skin White Masks and attend to his final book, Wretched of the Earth as expressing his core political and philosophical analyses, this article focuses in particular on Fanon's second and middle book, A Dying Colonialism, evaluating the political possibilities of the specific narrative temporalities elaborated there. Notwithstanding its rather dismissive reception, it is argued that this, middle, book—written during, and as a document of, the Algerian liberation struggle—expresses and develops Fanon's psychopolitical and performative philosophy of subjective and objective transformation from alienation to emancipation. This philosophy works pedagogically, in imagining the transformation of relations between others, as well as between self and others, including relations between coloniser and colonized, as also between and within selves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gamifying online homework activities and learning assignments is an effective approach to facilitate students' engagement and enjoyment. While incorporating game elements to gamify homework and learning assignments promoted positive psychological and learning outcomes, the mere use of these elements brings several flaws associated with the gameful design that constrains the perceived gameful experience and increases the cognitive load of students during homework achievement. This research demonstrates the micro design as an innovative approach to gamify homework assignments and investigates its effects on perceived gameful experience, intrinsic motivation, engagement, and cognitive load. Forty-three primary school students were randomly divided into two groups, i.e., experimental and control groups. The experimental group with the micro gameful design of homework activities and the control group with conventional gameful design. The results provided empirical evidence on the impact of gamifying online homework while there are no significant differences between the groups on gameful experience, motivation, and engagement. The micro design approach is effective for reducing the cognitive load of students when accomplishing homework tasks. The current data highlight the importance of enhancing the gameful design approaches and patterns when gamifying learning assignments and developing motivational cognitive affordances that promote behaviour change and task completion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In psychotherapy, verbal communication is central to the therapeutic process. However, when patients remain silent, it can serve various functions, such as reflecting more deeply or hesitating to elaborate on a topic. This article uses conversation analysis to examine a specific context in which silence occurs: After a patient has concluded his/her narrative, both the therapist and the patient resist the turn allocation by the respective other, resulting in mutual silence. The results indicate that both therapists and patients collaboratively generate this silence. Therapists typically end the silence with an intervention, addressing an aspect of the topic and treating the pause as intra-topic silence. The study is based on approximately 29 h of video recordings of German-speaking outpatient psychodynamic psychotherapy sessions. This research highlights the importance of therapists recognizing the different forms of silence that may emerge during psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analogue and digital simulations have been used in conjunction with other pedagogical approaches and practices for decades now as research continues to evince the positive influence that they have on learning and social interaction. There is a wealth of historical games that aim to immerse players in a variety of era-defining epochs, with varying levels of abstraction and narrative arcs. However, there appears to be a dearth of games that focus on past events that are deemed too disturbing, too divisive, or too recent, especially those that occurred in an urban setting. Additionally, the geopolitics – if any – are backgrounded, as are the socio-economic structures of the people and places being represented. So, what contexts should we not model or simulate? What stories cannot – or should not – be told through this medium? And when is a historical period ‘too soon’ to be approached – especially when a simulation, a mere ‘game’, is the method of examination something so recent, so distressing as the Troubles of Northern Ireland? This article introduces the table-top narrative-based simulation, The Troubles,1 scheduled for publication by Compass Games LLC, to demonstrate that there is space for such titles designed with clear pedagogical aims and objectives, which augment the popular genre of historical gaming – historical wargaming in particular – and that there is much to benefit from simulations of this type which are interdisciplinary in nature, encompassing academic disciplines such as politics, history, languages, and ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a single case of ayahuasca-assisted grief therapy for the prevention of complicated grief, conducted within a clinical trial. The participant, a woman in her thirties who lost her father to cancer, completed a 9-session process of Meaning Reconstruction Therapy (MRT) organised around two ayahuasca sessions. Following each psychedelic experience, she also completed a psychedelic integration session. The case study investigates the effect of the intervention, the observed changes in the participant, and the potential processes of change which may account for this improvement. The analysis relies on a qualitative narrative approach to examine the content of each therapy session, as well as on the psychometric measures completed at baseline, post-treatment, and at the three-month follow-up. These results are linked to emerging theories in the field, with a particular focus on the role of meaning reconstruction, psychological flexibility, and a continuing bond with the deceased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: It is known that co-speech hand gestures increase and supplement speech in individuals with language impairment after brain injury, e.g., post-stroke aphasia. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) provides a unique avenue to evaluate gestures as TBI often presents with both anomia (word-finding impairments) and cognitive impairments, resulting in a cognitive-communicative disorder. However, there is a great need for evaluation of gestures in TBI during typical spontaneous speech and across the recovery trajectory (from sub-acute to chronic stages). In a large population (N = 54) of persons with moderate-severe TBI, who were examined at 3 months post-TBI whilst telling a procedural narrative ("how to make a sandwich"), we examined three aims: (1) characterize the extent to which adults with moderate-severe TBI produce iconic gestures; (2) identify the extent to which language impairment relates to iconic gesturing in TBI; and (3) characterize the extent to which iconic gesturing changes across TBI recovery. Methods: In a subpopulation (Group 1, N = 14) who were examined at three- and 24-months (sub-acute and substantially chronic), and in a smaller subpopulation (Group 2, N = 6) who had data for five timepoints (three-, six-, nine-, 12-, and 24-months), we used paired tests to examine and characterize longitudinal changes in iconic gesturing. Results: The large group analysis suggested that individuals with TBI use iconic gesture during narrative, which take several different iconic forms (e.g., enacting use of an object), and that a minority employed gestures that supplemented (added to, disambiguated, or replaced) speech. The subpopulation analyses suggested that participants did not produce iconic gestures significantly differently across the 2-year recovery timeframe. Case examination of a participant with moderate-severe aphasia suggested a relationship between language impairment and gesture, with this individual producing the highest proportion of supplemental gesturing of the entire group. This finding aligns with research from the post-stroke aphasia field. Discussion: Broadly, this study significantly extends prior research on the relationship between gesturing, language, and brain injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study delves into the lives of transnational families in the UAE, exploring their complex identities using a visual research approach known as the Collage Life Elicitation Technique (CLET). Both the topic and the methodology are framed within a theoretical lens of Verstehen (understanding) with a view to further exploring the lives of transnational families in the context of a pragmatic phenomenology and within the setting of the UAE as a rentier state. The lives of families such as these are characterized by a cross-cultural lifestyle, high mobility and expected repatriation. This paper presents narratives of eight transnational families in the UAE as expressed by the mother of each family unit, and seeks to expand on how these mothers view the identity of their families as expatriates living in the UAE. Findings indicate that these families navigate an intricate world where they are neither entirely of their host country nor of their passport country. The family unit plays a pivotal role in these families' lives, acting as a bridge between their host culture and their home culture, serving as a nucleus for their evolving identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to explain is seen among the basic needs of human beings. In order to meet the need for narration, genres such as myths, tales, stories and jokes have been used. However, gossip is also of great importance in meeting this need. The most general meaning of gossip is to talk behind someone's back. For various reasons, people talk about things behind the other person's back that they do not or cannot say to their face. Gossip, which is widely produced and consumed by the public, has important functions in the context of folklore. For example, it reminds us of cultural elements, keeps them alive and ensures their transmission from generation to generation. Failure to implement cultural elements accepted in society and/or displaying contrary actions makes the perpetrators of the incidents the subject of gossip. Within the scope of gossip, the actions of these people are condemned, and the group members' failure to display the condemned actions is expressed artistically. This situation emphasizes the importance of not going beyond cultural elements in society and adhering to traditions. In this sense, gossip is effective in adhering to the culture of the region. Partnerships are of great importance in gossip. People who share common elements come together to produce and transmit gossip. These rumors are about common issues that affect individuals directly or indirectly. Gossip, which deals with the events, situations and issues of daily life, plays an essential role in oral history and is effective in reaching the history of daily life. Gossip, which is a product of oral culture and has an impact on the preservation, survival and transmission of various cultural products from generation to generation, is effective in transmitting the knowledge and experiences of the people and transmits the products of folk knowledge to future generations. Gossip has various similarities and differences with other narrative types. For example, just like other genres of narratives (fairy tales, stories, etc.), gossip helps people organize. Just as gossip is included in various forms within other narrative genres, various types (story, joke, proverb, applause, curse, swearing, etc.) are also included within gossip. Although many of them are common with the functions of folklore, gossip has various functions such as organizing, entertaining, educating, comforting, supporting customs and ceremonies, and protesting. By examining the gossip of certain regions, one can gain information about the culture of the region by seeing what the local people condemn and what they support. The subject of gossip needs to be examined and studied from various aspects in the context of folklore. In the current research, some topics that can be studied regarding gossip are included. The study was created based on the data obtained as a result of participating in the gossip, listening to the texts and making observations, as well as theoretical thoughts. In this study, the place and importance of gossip in folklore is mentioned. However, gossip was mentioned as a genre of folklore and a new definition was put forward. In this way, it is aimed that the study will play a guiding or leading role in research on gossip. In addition, it is aimed to understand the importance of the subject, which has not been studied sufficiently and has not attracted attention in the context of folklore, and to be supported by various studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article brings out ethical aspects arising in Plato's classical critique of narrative and imitative art in The Republic, especially when it comes to reading stories about the past. Socrates's and Glaucon's most important suggestion, I argue, is to cultivate an ethical consciousness where one ought to see the distinctions between how the real and the imaginary in narratives are to be conceived, and what that insight ethically demands of the reader. Taken as an ethical insight for the reader when engaging in narrative understanding, this should be to resist the temptation to think that past suffering and misery as told in a story can be read analogously to narratives having a tragic plot. The article clarifies the meaning of Plato's critique through the ideas of Simone Weil, Emmanuel Lévinas and Iris Murdoch. These existential moral philosophers work towards having an ethical consciousness in one's personal relationship with stories of our lifeworld. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the common denominators that underlie Protestant sermons is their narrative character. Storytelling of different genres with different phases and culminations seems to serve the needs of the church for teaching through preaching. The storyline of sermons may include biblical stories (Gospel as well as other stories, such as parables), a story from a different source (lyrics, a poem, a joke, media, fiction, etc.), or a personal story (reminiscences, experiences, and the like), which is a narrative in the broadest sense of the word. The story, as such, carries the line of narration and helps point out ideas, illustrate the doctrine, and draw conclusions. Moreover, the narrative line in sermons naturally includes all three Aristotelian persuasive appeals. The linguistically oriented, corpus-driven article strives to look at narrative, especially its pathetic aspect, as a tool of persuasion. I aim to demonstrate how stories take believers by the hand and lead them to persuasion, conviction, and belief. The article argues that the narrative line in Protestant sermons appears to be a constitutive feature: not only does such a sermon attract the attention of listeners more easily, it enables the preacher to construe the intended structure of the message gradually and to conclude the sermon with a true (typically pathetic) punchline, in other words, a message that aims directly at the hearts and minds of the audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ancient oasis of Turfan, located on the Northern Silk Road, was a centre for interactions between the East and the West and witnessed numerous cultural, religious, and linguistic changes throughout history. A large number of texts were composed, translated, copied, and published there. One of the outcomes of these efforts is the Old Uyghur Buddhist narrative literature, parts of which have remained almost completely preserved, while a significant portion has survived as single fragments or small pieces of a fragment. For some of these texts, definitive conclusions about their original content or which work they belong to have yet to be reached. The Old Uyghur Bāvari narrative discussed in this study bears parallels, particularly in terms of themes, settings, and characters, with sections of the Pārāyaṇasūtra—known for its resemblance to the final chapter of the Sutta Nipāta, i.e., the Pārāyanavagga—as well as parts of the Maitreyasamitināṭaka and Xianyujing. This study first introduces this narrative formed by the Old Uyghur fragments preserved in the Turfan Collection of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences. Then, the text is transcribed and translated. Finally, the similarities and differences with other parallel narratives are analysed and presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are feminist scholars who research and teach at a university in the United States situated within histories of sociopolitical conservativism and oppressions. In the present, looming over our classrooms, are mandates to eliminate 'divisive concepts' such as race and gender. These political monsters gnash their teeth and foam at the mouth as they swallow up equity and intersectionality from education. Here, we draw on posthuman feminisms to specifically consider what monstrous mutant feminist pedagogies are, what they might do, and how they have healed/emboldened us in these politically ruined places. We contextualize the mutant pedagogies that are kinned through the composts we inhabit/create, then, we situate ourselves within these monstrous landscapes and tell the stories of our Communities/Pedagogies of Mutation. We conclude by looking forward and, drawing inspiration from post feminisms, speculate generative, hopeful, and affirmative futures that are made possible through our agentively monstrous mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 crisis severely impacted entrepreneurs worldwide, so that policy dispatches like the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's (GEM) September 2020 special report, Diagnosing COVID‐19 Impacts on Entrepreneurship: Exploring Policy Remedies for Recovery, were crucial for governments devising economic policies. Our paper examines how the GEM used institutional storytelling to craft anticipatory resilience, by drawing on the Communication Theory of Resilience and (ante)narrative approaches to anticipatory resilience. Findings demonstrated intersections of the GEM's role of resilience storyteller, as well as how resilience action by entrepreneurs and policymakers was narrated by the GEM. We uncover key tensions within the GEM's positioning as diagnostician and fortuneteller, between the resilient processes of normalizing and pivoting for everyday entrepreneurs, and in the institutionalizing work of policymakers through reacting and prospecting. We end by discussing key implications of our narrative approach to how institutions craft anticipatory resilience in response to global crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a two-part, initial case study of a 33-year-old male ("Oz") who requested an investigation of his recent haunt-type experiences. We tested whether the features and dynamics of the reported anomalies aligned with a "spontaneous" case showing the recognition patterns of Haunted People Syndrome (HP-S). This model describes recurrent "ghostly episodes" as an interactionist phenomenon involving people with heightened somatic-sensory sensitivities which are stirred by dis-ease states, contextualized with sense-making mechanisms, and reinforced via perceptual contagion and threatagency detection. Part 1 compared contextual information from a semistructured interview and psychometric testing with Oz to the results of an independent content analysis of his account. Part 2 featured a thematic analysis with a narrative lens to assess the sequence of events in this case against the posited HP-S process. We also explored for "deep" (autonomous) imaginary companions, stigmata marks, and enchantment reactions. The available evidence suggests this ghostly episode involved (a) an above-average "haunt intensity" and a content structure most similar to a "primed" experience, (b) an above-average score on a standardized screener for HP-S, and (c) clear aftereffects of enchantment and a probable history of encounter proneness. There were no overt signs of deception, but the case progression did not fully match prior descriptions of the HP-S sequence. This suggests that HP-S variables might work in a dynamic fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that any understanding of the yulu 語錄 (recorded conversation) genre must take into account a work's literary form, not merely its philosophical content or even the ideological, linguistic, material, political, financial, or interpersonal factors contributing to its compilation, publication, or consumption. As a case in point, this essay analyzes Zuolin jitan 柞林紀譚, Yuan Zhongdao's 袁中道 (1570–1623) rendering of his pedagogical interactions with the late-Ming maverick thinker Li Zhi 李贄 (1527–1602). I argue that the uses of narrative, dialogue, and fragment in this text prevent the reader from passively absorbing the text's "message"; instead, they foster a sense of intimacy and identification between the reader and the characters depicted in the text while at the same time inviting the reader to upend the traditional power hierarchy between master and disciple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]