EN :

This paper considers memes through the lens of riddles and discusses the generative or creative aspect of the meme format as applied in the classroom. In a literary studies course on cultural narratives, ranging from canonical to bestselling fiction, we critically discussed the genre-specific potential of memes, which students were encouraged to explore both intellectually and experientially. In addition, we asked students to create memes in their assessment of the course. The results were highly ambivalent, ranging from humor to seriousness, self-critique to critique of the course, panic (regarding the final exam) to playful exaggeration of said panic. This ambivalence, often accentuated by irony and excess, challenges any definitive understanding of the memes’ content and meaning. Rather than dismissing memes as a flawed, imprecise tool, this article examines them as riddled forms and hypothesizes that, due to their ambivalence, they may actually be closer to a student’s “truth.” The connection between memes and meaning-making is especially relevant to courses that, like the one in this article, foreground semantic ambiguity and an explorative habitus.

EN :

“Fairy tales begin with conflict because we all begin our lives with conflict,” famously states Jack Zipes. And yet, this statement does not always seem to apply to non-Western story structures, such as the Asian kishōtenketsu, which implies a story development that does not necessarily revolve around conflicts. In many of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies (e.g., My Neighbor Totoro; Spirited Away, The Secret World of Arietty), it is possible to detect, on the one hand, the kishōtenketsu-based plot, and,on the other hand, the widespread presence of Western fairy-tale tropes. Conflicts in traditional Western fairy tales may sometimes manifest in the form of riddles to solve. Although Miyazaki’s stories do not shun away from riddles, how do these riddles relate to conflicts? How are Western and Asian story structures bound together in Miyazaki’s narratives, and what effects does this hybridization generate in their audiences? This article argues that: 1.) Riddles based on Western fairy tales in Miyazaki’s work do not necessarily involve conflicts, and are recast and re-elaborated in highly unusual ways; and 2.) The employment of these unusual patterns, mixing up together Oriental and Occidental frames of reference, gives rise to stories that puzzle the mind of spectators, working as complex narrative riddles.

EN :

This article demonstrates and describes an iterative process of narrative analysis for researchers who want to familiarise themselves with this methodology. The method draws on the six-step process of how to analyse a narrative, the four modes of reading a narrative and the three-sphere model of external context. The application of the method is demonstrated through describing the process of analysis of New Zealand school counsellors’ narratives of strengths-based counselling. Furthermore, this article posits that committing to a narrative analysis process of repeated and in-depth engagement with participants’ narrative data may facilitate a more robust and engaging research outcome than may otherwise have been achieved through more prescriptive methods of narrative analysis. Finally, this article highlights the use of story-map grids (tables) and models as visual aids to assist in the process of narrative analysis.

EN :

Personal narratives are studied in many disciplines, but theoretical analysis of the personal narrative in composition classes has lagged behind the research. This qualitative study examines the personal narratives of thirty Black college-aged men. This study presents the feelings and thoughts of Black males through their personal stories and perspectives; in the study, they detail their life experiences. The narratives were analyzed for elements of narrative discourse, which include (1) Thesis; (2) Transitions; (3) Use and Evaluation of Sources; (4) Audience, Tone, and Rhetorical Appeals; (5) Organization; (6) Claims, Warrants, and Support; (7)Paraphrases, Direct Quotes, and Summary; (8) In-text Citations and Works Cited Page; (9) Style and Syntax; and (10) Mechanics (see scoring procedures). Each narrative was analyzed according to the criteria described in the Personal Narrative Rubric; the number of elements was counted for each category. The researcher recommends additional narrative studies of Black men in different age groups, educational backgrounds, social and economic levels, and geographical regions.

EN :

This article uses the short story, “Her First Ball,” by Katherine Mansfield to demonstrate how fiction could be an effective tool in the process of deconstructing and transforming the master narrative of old age among secondary students of English as secondary language (ESL). The story not only offers some language points to focus on and some reading skills to develop, but it also provokes some pertinent questions about the image and meaning of old age. Aging themes in “Her First Ball” could serve as an excellent starting point for discussion among adolescent learners about old age. Moreover, such an open-ended approach to Mansfield’s story could potentially lead to a deepened awareness of the social impact of the semantics of old age as well as the transformation of students’ conceptualization of becoming mature and growing old. In addition, this article is devoted to rebuke such a purely didactic approach by presenting the literary text as a tool for complex pedagogical practices.

EN :

Narrative care, an approach developed from the larger concept of narrative gerontology, considers the importance of stories as a source of identity. A type of person-centered care, narrative care in care settings encourages care workers to elicit stories to gain a more wholistic understanding of the person. Drawing on personal experience in the field, I argue that although “big” story approaches (e.g., grand life narratives) have typically been used in social and healthcare settings, “small” story approaches (e.g., snippets or moments) are more practical for care workers. The expansion of the concept of narrative care to include “narrative engagement” will be explored, which if applied in meaningful ways can promote citizenship, shift power dynamics, generate empowerment, and create systemic change in social and health care settings. Finally, newly developed train-the-trainer narrative care training will be discussed, which is designed to meet the needs of diverse social/health care workers, with a focus on meaningful methods of adopting narrative care and engagement in practice.