Artigos de revistas sobre o tema "Jordan – Fiction"

Abstract Arab American fiction has received great attention in the post-9/11 period. This ethnic literature has been put under a critical lens due to the aspects that shape it and the issues discussed in it. One of the main objectives of Arab American fiction is to bridge cultural differences and appeal to its readers, both Arabs and non-Arabs. This particular objective is achieved by the authors’ willingness to trigger empathetic engagement with their characters. As such, this paper looks at how Laila Halaby’s West of the Jordan (2003) functions in accordance with the poetics of empathy. In other words, the aim of this paper is to show how fiction appeals to its readers through empathy and how empathetic engagement sustains the characters-readers connection, taking West of the Jordan as a literary example. This paper suggests that empathy in fiction is multi-layered and serves different purposes. The arguments are based on a conceptual framework supported by scholarly perspectives of prominent critics and theorists such as Chielozona Eze, Heather Hoyt, and Suzanne Keen, to name just a few.

<p>The gothic imagination often expresses a sense of the instability and/or vulnerability of human identity, bearing either on specific individuals or on the species as a whole. The present article examines the 2017 film <em>Get Out</em>, written and directed by Jordan Peele,<strong> </strong>in order to highlight the ways in which its exploration of the abovementioned topic relates to the tradition of the gothic as it is recognisable in literary texts dating from as far back as the eighteenth century. Relevant titles include Walter Scott’s <em>Count Robert of Paris</em> and Robert Louis Stevenson’s <em>Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde</em>, as well as examples from film.</p>

Abstract: Samuel Fuller's Shock Corridor (1963) and Jordan Peele's Get Out (2017) were both created during dreadful points in America's history. But Fuller hopes his film will be seen as science fiction as opposed to real life as he states in his autobiography of 2002. Peele attests wisely that Fuller's hope will never be fulfilled. Both works, though filmed in different times, show a troublesome world. They both depict a fragile America. Both protagonists had a sharper eye or were better witnesses to their worlds. A sharper vision is to be valued. Johnny of Shock Corridor is a journalist delving into the dangers of a mental institution. Chris, a photo fan, in the end comes to his close vision that he does not belong in the world of the film Get Out . The fear of loss exists in both Fuller and Peele. This article explores how these two films reveal the fragility of America.

The aim of this research paper is to demonstrate that Hemingway's work, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ to show commitment to representing the war literature in which he realistically depicts the war scenes and the crippling impact of violence upon the individuals. This research is qualitative research carried out within the framework of theory, fiction, and history. We have deeply and analytically studied the text and marked the relevant portions. After many close readings and intensive study of the text, the relevant textual evidence was located, marked, and extracted. In 'For Whom the Bell Tolls, Hemingway enthusiastically depicts the heroic actions of Robert Jordan, the American protagonist, fighting for the Spanish cause and the other loyalists who were engaged in resisting fascist aggression against the democratic setup.

For many years, the novels of Ouida (Maria Louise Ramé, 1839–1908), were rejected as offering nothing but commercially valuable “voluptuous daydreams” (Leavis 164) that catered to “the degenerate taste of the new reading public of the commercial middle class” (Elwin 282). Since the late 1980s, however, they have been read with renewed interest. Ouida has come to be recognised as a “forgotten mother” of the 1890s aesthetic movement (Schaffer, Female Aesthetes and “Origins”); as a significant player on the anti–feminist side in the New Woman debates of the 1890s (Gilbert); and, with seeming paradox, as a writer keen to explore sexual transgression (Jordan “Writings” and “Enigma”; Schroeder “Feminine”). While there has been a recent monograph on Ouida's fiction (Schroeder and Holt), her journalism remains largely ignored. In 1882, Ouida began to write literary criticism together with analyses and commentaries on the politics of the state and the organisation of society for several journals, including the Gentleman's Magazine, the Fortnightly Review, the Westminster Review, the North American Review and the Italian Nuova Antologia. This article examines Ouida's late journalism, with some adversion to her late fiction, in an attempt to establish her core set of political values at this time.

<p>This article explores the pedagogical foundations of three U.S. Black women writers—Toni Cade Bambara, June Jordan, and Audre Lorde—widely recognized as among the most influential and prolific writers of 20th century cultures of emancipation. Their distinct yet entwined legacies—as socialist feminists, people’s poets and novelists, community organizers, and innovative educators—altered the landscapes of multiple liberation movements from the late 1960s to the present, and offer a striking example of the possibilities of radical women’s intellectual friendships. The internationalist reverberations of Bambara, Jordan, and Lorde are alive and ubiquitous, even if to some readers today in the Caribbean and Latin America, their names may be unfamiliar.<a title="" href="file:///C:/Users/natal/Documents/MEGA/1-REVISTAS/Anuario/Anuario%2030-2018/Dossier/02%20Articulo%20Conor.docx#_ftn1">^{^[}</a></p><p>Bambara’s fiction centered Black and Third World women and children absorbing vibrant life lessons within societies structured to harm them. Her 1980 novel, The Salt Eaters, posed the question - “are you sure, sweetheart, that you want to be well?” -to conjoin healing and resistance for a new embattled generation under President Reagan’s neoliberal shock doctrines that were felt worldwide. June Jordan’s salvos of essays, fiction, and poetry -including Things That I Do in the Dark, On Call, and Affirmative Acts - intervened in struggles around Black English, community control, police violence, sexual assault, and youth empowerment. Audre Lorde’s words are suffused across U.S. movements (and, increasingly, in the Caribbean and Latin America)- on signs, shirts, and memes, at #BlackLivesMatter and International Women’s Strike marches. Your silence will not protect you. The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. Revolution is not a one-time event. However, her voluminous legacy may risk becoming a series of slogans, “the Audre Lorde that reads like a bumper sticker.”</p><div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><div><p> </p></div></div>

The present article is devoted to the problem of commenting on medieval chronicles (on the example of the Old Spanish Estoria de España by Alfonso X the Wise, 13th с.) and the need not only to search for the sources of certain large and small stories, but also to explain the choice of words, naming, and the mechanism of putting together various stories from the point of view of the problem of truth/fiction (verdad /fabula) in the perception of the medieval chronicler, for whom an important goal is to present his story as truth and to make it compelling for the listener and reader. As an example, we examine the well-known chronicle story about the genealogy of the Huns (Jordan, St. Jerome, Sigebert of Gembloux), refined and edited by the editors of the Spanish chronicle, as well as two etiological legends about the origin of significant toponyms and the founding of the most important cities of Spain (the legend of the marriage of Liberia, daughter of Span; the legend of King Rocas). The studied stories have shown that the task of creating a reliable story is achieved either by deliberately creating a new, unknown narrative (the stories of Liberia and Rocas) without a clearly identifiable source, or by consciously clarifying and changing traditional information (satyrs as progenitors of the Huns).

The desert in the South of Jordan is a popular location for multimillion-dollar productions of science fiction films. The combination of vast arid lands and lucrative tax rebates offered by the Royal Film Commission make the Jordanian desert a desirable backdrop for expeditions to hostile extraterrestrial planets. Dune (2021), Mission to Mars (2000), The Martian (2015), Last Days on Mars (2013), Transformers (2007), and The Red Planet (2010) are a few of the feature film titles produced by American companies and filmed in Jordan’s Wadi Rum. This article argues that the cinematic portrayal of worlds ravaged by resource scarcity and climate peril too often sustains the perception of the desert as an unruly, lawless, and dead land. While the environmental humanities often aim to shift the scale of our historic lens to bear witness to the entire earth, this article reflects on the stakes of further abstracting the specificity of geography and extending the colonial imaginaries of wasteland. Reflecting on the process of capturing images of landscapes in the Middle East, the article considers desert locations as unique “extractive zones” wherein the topsoil is captured and circulated as high-definition images. Thinking of filmmaking as extractive means defining images as materials, and considering the laws, labor, and cultural imaginations merged in this process.

The fallen woman, long existent in patriarchal discourse and intensified by Victorian sexual ethics, succumbs to seduction or sensual desires, suffers social condemnation and ostracism, and eventually dies, either repentantly or shamelessly. The questions of female sexuality and feminine virtues are dealt with in The Great Gatsby, Daisy Miller and The Awakening. Daisy Buchanan, Jordan, and Myrtle, all three sexually transgressive women, are punished, with Myrtle, the most sexually aggressive, being subjected to an outrageous death penalty. Daisy Miller, upon engaging in acts of self-presentation and female appropriation of male space, undergoes social disapprobation and dies an untimely death. Edna, though boldly adopting a single sexual standard for both men and women and awakening to life’s independence and sexual freedom, eventually realizes there is no space for her and submerges herself in the ocean. In contrast, the recent contemporary narrative pattern deconstructs the myth of the fallen woman and allows the fallen woman to live and prosper. The fallen woman, traditionally a secondary character who is considered a threat to the virtuous heroine, has emerged as a major or central character with a revolutionary power that both conquers and heals. Like Water for Chocolate, Chocolat and Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café acknowledge female mobility and sexual freedom and appropriate a space hitherto denied to fallen women. Eva Bates and Gertrudis, satiating female sexual desires and representing eroticized female bodies, overturn the traditional narrative of falling and dying by becoming competent and worthy members of society. Tita and Vianne are central heroines who challenge the cult of true womanhood, embody the sexualized New Woman and display strength and personal power, making them pillars of their communities.

Postmodern fiction demonstrates a suspicion about the narrative status of history. Arguably, its project is to reveal the illusion of truth in history because of history's reliance on texts. There is no doubt that historical events occur, but their transmutation into “fact” and their transmission to posterity are limited by their narrativization and textualization. In the Afterword to her novel, Alias Grace (1996) – a fictionalized narrative centering on a real-life person embroiled in a double murder in 1843 – Margaret Atwood reveals her interest in this problem with “history”. She tells the reader, “I have of course fictionalized historical events … as did many commentators on this case who claimed to be writing history”. The purpose of this paper is thus to consider Margaret Atwood’s novel, Alias Grace as a postmodern fiction that seeks to reveal the illusion of truth in history through her use of innovatory narrative techniques. Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of the “double-voiced” is used to examine the permitted, surface-level utterances – and the necessarily conflicting actual narratives – of the two narrators in Atwood’s novel. However, the term is also applied in the broader feminist/theoretical context of the silencing of the female subject more generally. Atwood establishes a fragmented, multiplicity narrative. This arises from the reported and somewhat self-aware observations of the eponymous Grace and a doctor named Simon Jordan. Seemingly, the author’s own authority does not exist. Atwood thus exploits the slippery nature of language that does not have some kind of “truth” imposed upon it. The historical “truth” about Grace Marks is never revealed, not because Atwood is “leaving it to the reader's imagination” but because Atwood plays with the problem of personality as a social construction. Almost invisible as “author”, Atwood nevertheless reveals just how language can be manipulated and made to conform to a certain version of ‘truth’ and ‘reality’. However, in Alias Grace, Atwood also recuperates the voice of a supposedly murderous woman by revising the myth of woman’s silence and subjugation. Because her speaking voices are required to practice “double-voicing” to be heard, through presenting the reader with both voices, Atwood recuperates the moments of existential liberation to be heard from emergent voices.

Based on a reading of science fiction iconography and topics in Olga Ravn’s De ansatte [The employees] the article discusses how the novel uses a fictionalized framework to reflect upon contemporary social discussions.

The last couple of decades have seen an increase in research and artistic practices around afrofuturism. Taking the cue from Mark Dery’s article “Black to the Future,” where he coins the term, the article points to different aspects of afrofuturism. The music and philosophy of Sun Ra is an important point of departure, having ancient Egypt and a future outer space as orientation. At the same time there are, as Dery makes clear, other dimensions at stake. Following Dery’s argument that African Americans and other Afrodiasporic citizens in a specific sense are descendent from alien abductees, the article moves into relations between time and history, and employs an afrofuturist lens to discuss how speculative fiction can be used in interpreting history, illustrating a kind of science fiction historiography. As a case in point the Middle Passage, and the chronotope of the ocean, is discussed in tandem with Nnedi Okorafor’s novel Lagoon. Okorafor’s novel also testifies to an expansion of afrofuturism with increasing expressive work coming from the African continent.

The Arab community is essentially a patriarchal one with a history of women being subjected to various kinds of afflictions and oppression under cultural, religious and societal laws. Though there is a collective consciousness now regarding the position of the Arab woman in the Arab world, with significant progress being made to emancipate and empower them, much needs to be done still. Set in the mid-20th century Jordan, Arab Anglophone author Fadia Faqir’sPillars of Salt portrays the tragic plight of Arab women at the hands of the traditional patriarchal Arab communities of Jordan. Nature plays a significant role in Faqir’s narrative wherein much of the miseries faced by the women characters are conveyed through rich nature imageries and analogies. This renders the novel the identity of an eco-fictional work and provides scope for analysis based on the ecological approaches as perceived in Emerson’s Nature to the more recent theory of Ecocriticism formulated by William Rueckert. This paper explores an ecocritical approach towards the position of women in the Arab society as expressed through profound eco-comparisons, imageries and analogies in Fadia Faqir’s Pillars of Salt.

Just as the imminence of the Second World War overshadowed the first production of J. B. Priestley's ‘modern morality play’, Johnson Over Jordan, in 1939, so did the disaster of 9/11 its only major revival, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2001. Both productions boasted a major actor – respectively Ralph Richardson and Patrick Stewart – in the title role of a play which continued Priestley's search to find a theatrical style for his own metaphysical enquiries into the nature of time and the boundaries of human mortality. In this article, Alan W. Friedman sets the play in the context of western attitudes towards death and the nature of an afterworld, and relates these to Johnson's own journey after his funeral through rewindings of his past life towards some sort of reconciliation with its ending. Alan W. Friedman is Thaman Professor of English in the University of Texas, Austin, and has also taught at universities in England, Ireland, and France. He has published numerous articles and books, the latter including Multivalence: the Moral Quality of Form in the Modern Novel (Louisiana State UP, 1978), William Faulkner (Frederick Ungar, 1984), Fictional Death and the Modernist Enterprise (Cambridge UP, 1995), and (edited with Charles Rossman and Dina Sherzer) Beckett Translating/Translating Beckett (Pennsylvania State UP, 1987).

Objectives: Social media influencers and celebrities have traditionally been utilized by marketers. However, with the advancements in artificial intelligence, virtual influencers are gaining popularity on social media platforms. As a result, companies are compelled to incorporate this emerging trend into their social media campaigns. However, there is limited research available regarding the effectiveness criteria of virtual influencers to guide marketers in their selection decisions. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the attributes of virtual influencers that impact consumer behavioral intentions, specifically within the fashion domain. Methods:. To measure the antecedents to influencing behavioral intentions, 224 online surveys were distributed to female Instagram users selected through convenience sampling method. The empirical design of the study involoved several Instagram posts created as if by a virtual influencer promoting a fictional fashion brand. These posts measured the constructs related to the research questions, drawing from validated digital human and influencer marketing literature. The collected data was analyzed using the Partial Least Squares method. Results: The study findings revealed that content informativeness, bonding, expertise, human like attributes, and consumer innovativeness all had varying degrees of influence on behavioral intentions, with content informativeness being the most influential factor. Conclusions: The study contributes to the limited literature on virtual influencers and provides novel practical implications to marketers. It also suggests the need for further in-depth studies to identify effective attributes of virtual influencers.

ABSTRACT: This essay addresses its title question by analyzing sex robots, real and imagined, as both representational objects and vital matter. Though frequently treated as perverse by popular media, actual sex robots are in fact remarkably conventional in their reproduction of a heteronormative sexual aesthetic that disavows the vibrancy of the sexualized object. Sex robot art and fictional narratives (both film and literature), including Jordan Wolfson’s installation Female Figure (2014), Alex Garland’s Ex Machina (2014), and Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods (2007), employ and interrogate this kind of mimetic design. In these texts, sex robots assert their vibrancy and agency via what Sarah Ahmed terms “queer use,” while at the same time reinscribing the humanist hierarchies that precluded their vitality in the first place.

The Saami people are indigenous people and ethnic minorities living in Sápmi, which encompasses the northern areas of Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. At the beginning of the twentieth century, interest in Saami began to grow among Swedish researchers, journalists, writers, and film-makers (Jordahl 2014). The aim of this article is to compare the depiction of the attributes of Sami identity as reconstructed in cultural texts from the first half of the twentieth century. The main subject of the analysis is the Swedish feature film Midnattssolens son (The Son of the Midnight Sun) directed by Rolf Husberg and Thor L. Brooks from 1939 and the non-fiction book by the Swedish journalist Ester Blenda Nordström Kåtornas folk (People of the Cots) from 1916.

Este artigo recupera os argumentos centrais de alguns protagonistas da inclusão dos laboratórios de escrita nas universidades brasileiras, analisando suas bases teóricas e os ecos encontrados no percurso histórico de países em que a escrita criativa como área de conhecimento já se encontra consolidada. Demonstra como é possível rastrear a defesa pela inclusão da criação literária nas universidades brasileiras até o final do século XIX. Objetiva, também, contribuir para a organização do debate histórico sobre os cursos de escrita criativa no Brasil. Palavras-chave: Criação literária. Escrita criativa. Oficina literária. Ensino de literatura. História da literatura. REFERÊNCIAS ABED, Carolina Z. Presença da Escrita Criativa no Brasil. Revera – Escritos de Criação Literária, v. 6, 2021 [no prelo]. AMABILE, Luís Roberto. O fantasma, o elefante e o sótão: apontamentos sobre a escrita criativa na academia. Cenários, v. 1, n. 9, p. 53-61, 2014. AMABILE, Luís Roberto. Do que estamos falando quando falamos de escrita criativa. Criação & Crítica, n. 28, p. 132-149, dez 2020. AMABILE, Luis Roberto. Escrita criativa: a aventura começa. In: AMABILE, Luís Roberto; LINARDI, Fred & RICHINITTI, Gabriela (orgs.). Como tudo começou: a história e 35 histórias dos 35 anos da Oficina de Criação Literária da PUCRS. Porto Alegre: EDIPUCRS, 2020b. ALENCAR, José de. Sonhos d’ouro. Rio de Janeiro : B. L. Garnier, 1872. ANDRADE, Mário. Cartas a um jovem escritor: de Mário de Andrade a Fernando Sabino. Rio de Janeito: Record, 1982. ASSIS, Machado de. Obra completa de Machado de Assis. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Aguilar, v. III, 1994. BARBOSA, Amilcar B. Da leitura à escrita: a construção de um texto, a formação de um escritor. 2012. Tese (Doutorado em Letras) – Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul/Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Porto Alegre/Paris, 2012. BRASIL, Luiz Antonio de Assis. A escrita criativa e a universidade. Letras de Hoje, Porto Alegre, v. 50, n. esp. (supl.) , p. s105-s109, dez. 2015a. BRASIL, Luiz Antonio de Assis. Escrita criativa – e reflexiva, ma non troopo. Scriptorium, v. 1, n. 1 jul-dez/2015b, p. 1-5. BRASIL, Luiz Antonio de Assis et. al. Percepções e perspectivas discentes nos cursos de pós-graduação em Escrita Criativa da PUCRS. Navegações, Porto Alegre, v. 10, n. 2, p. 149-155, 2017. COUTINHO, Eduardo. A contribuição de Afrânio Coutinho para os estudos literários no Brasil. In: FIGUEIREDO, Carmen Lúcia Negreiros de, et. al. (orgs.) Crítica e Literatura. Rio de Janeiro: De Letras, 2011, p. 185-196. DAWSON, Paul. Creative writing and the new humanities. Abingdon: Routledge, 2004. DONNELLY, Diane J. Establishing creative writing as an academic discipline. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 2012. DOURADO, Autran. Uma poética de romance: matéria de carpintaria. Rio de Janeiro: Difel, 1976. EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAMMES. Institutional members. Disponível em: https://eacwp.org/members/. Acesso em: 13 set. 2021. FORTUNATO, Márcia V. Autoria e aprendizagem da escrita. Tese (Doutorado em Educação) – Programa de pós-graduação em Educação - Área de concentração: linguagem e educação, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2009. GERMANO, Tiago. Breve panorama da escrita criativa no nordeste. In: TENÓRIO, Patricia Gonçalves (org.). Sobre a escrita criativa II. Recife: Raio de Sol, 2018. p. 334-355. GOMEZ, Dimas. Oficineiros e suas oficinas: proseando pela Paulicéia. Amazon Digital Services: 2015. JORDAN-BAKER, Craig. The philosophy of creative writing. New Writing, v. 12, n. 2, p. 238-248, jul./dez. 2015. JUNQUEIRA, Maria Aparecida. Samir Curi Meserani. Coleção Sapientia – Grandes Mestres da PUC-SP. São Paulo: EDUC, 2017. MACVEAN, Kendall Elizabeth. Expansion and inclusion of creative writing: a course for academic writers. Monografia (Bachelor of Arts) – Appalachian State University. Orientadora: Elizabeth Carroll. Carolina do Norte, 2016. MANCELOS, João de. Uma nova abordagem interdisciplinar: da escrita criativa aos estudos crítico-criativos. Carnets: Revista Eletrônica De Estudos Franceses, p. 257-265, Outono/Inverno 2009. MANCELOS, João de. Um pórtico para a Escrita Criativa. Pontes & Vírgulas: Revista municipal de cultura. Ano 2, n. 5, p. 14-15, primavera de 2007. MCGURL, Mark. The program era: postwar fiction and the rise of creative writing. Cambridge (Massachussets) e Londres: Harvard University, 2009. MESERANI, Samir Curi. Quem conta um conto (v. 1-6). São Paulo: Atual, 1989. MEYERS, David Gershom. The elephants teach: creative writing since 1880. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1996 MINÉ, Elza (2003). Criatividade: Homenagem ao Prof. Samir Curi Meserani. Videoteca PUC-SP. PUC 1554: Parte I e II (gravação realizada em 25/08/1999). PEREZ, Marcelo Spalding & ASSIS BRASIL, Luiz Antonio. A escrita criativa nos cursos de Pós-Graduação. Revista do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras da Universidade de Passo Fundo, v. 14, n. 2, p. 207-220, maio/ago. 2018. POE, Edgar Allan. A filosofia da composição. Rio de Janeiro: 7 Letras, 2011. PUBLISHNEWS. Unisinos cria curso superior para escritores. Disponivel em: https://www.publishnews.com.br/materias/2006/05/18/21723-unisinos-cria-curso-superior-para-escritores. Acesso em: 16 set. 2021. POSTAY, Andrezza. Por que estudar escrita criativa. In: TENÓRIO, Patricia Gonçalves (org.). Sobre a escrita criativa II. Recife: Raio de Sol, 2018, p. 69-77. RODRIGUES, Flávio Luis Freire. Os recentes manuais de escrita criativa publicados no Brasil entre 2005 e 2019. Miguilim – Revista Eletrônica do Netlli, Crato, v. 9, n. 3, p. 661-679, set./dez. 2020. SAUNDERS, G. A Mini-Manifesto. In: HARBACH, C. (Ed.). MFA vs NYC: the Two Cultures of American Fiction. New York: Faber and Faber, 2014. p. 31-38. SIQUEIRA, Yan P. B. Oficina literária de escrita criativa. Dissertação (Mestrado em Letras) – Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Centro de Ciências Humanas e Naturais. Orientador: Paulo Roberto Sodré. Vitória, 2016. XAVIER, Leila Pinheiro. Formação para a escrita literária no ensino superior brasileiro. In: Seminário Interlinhas, 2014.1 (14 e 15 de agosto de 2014, Alagoinhas, BA) / Anais: Org. Gislene Alves da Silva, Luane Tamires dos Santos Martins e Sheila Rodrigues dos Santos; Universidade do Estado da Bahia – Programa de Pós-Graduação em Crítica Cultural. Alagoinhas: Fábrica de Letras, 2014. p. 153-162.

During the last two decades of his life, Jean Genet (1910-86) stopped writing novels and plays. Instead he wrote non-fictional stories and essays, many of with depicted Palestinian soldiers and refugees living in Jordan and Lebanon. In this article, Genet’s representation of Palestinians is discussed in the perspective of Edward Said’s orientalism theory. At first sight, the fact that Genet is a Westerner writing in French about a foreign people whose language he does not speak might suggest that he moulds Palestinian reality in order to fit Western thought and Western aesthetics, thereby producing orientalist discourse. However, rather than exploiting the East to strengthen Western identity, Genet uses Eastern reality to undermine Western thought. It is concluded that Genet does not meet Said’s criteria of orientalism since the Palestinians are situated at the centre of his world and occupy a privileged position that surpasses the interests of Western politics, culture, and identity.

The Countryside, Nature, and Swedish Agrarian Policies. Vilhelm Moberg from an Eco-Critical Perspective This study applies an eco-critical perspective on the agrarian utopia Vilhelm Moberg depicts in his fictional works. His autobiographical novels about Knut Toring from the 1930s and his emigrant series from the 1950s are put in the foreground. (Sänkt sedebetyg 1935, transl. Memory of Youth 1937; Sömnlös 1937, “Sleepless”, not translated into English; Giv oss jorden! 1939, transl. The Earth is Ours 1940; Utvandrarna 1949, transl. The Emigrants 1951; Invandrarna 1953, transl. Unto a Good Land 1954; Nybyggarna 1956, transl. The Settlers; Sista brevet till Sverige 1959, transl. The Last Letter Home 1961). These works can be read as variations on a theme which occupied Moberg throughout his life as a writer: the loss of rural Sweden. The study focuses on Moberg’s utopian concepts of how the countryside could be saved. The solution lies in increased productivity and growth. In both his fictional and journalistic works Moberg has come forward as a critic of modernity in general and more specific the emerging Swedish welfare state, the so called ”Folkhemmet”. But the study argues that Moberg’s novels, paradoxically enough, in certain respects are compatible with Swedish agrarian policies in the middle of the 20th century and the ideological ideas underpinning ”Folkhemmet”, with development, progress and growth as overriding goals. The eco-critical perspective puts this policy of growth in a historical and anthropological and ideological context, aiming to show that nature in the works of Moberg is primarily seen as a resource for man. Nature is a bottomless source of riches, and man is assigned to manage it.

Abstract In his 2014 intermedial word-image novel Theories of Forgetting, Lance Olsen focuses on human life’s transience, impermanence, and fragility through his major characters, Alana and Hugh, and their children, who read their parents’ diaries. The ideas about the fleeting nature of human lives are presented through intermedial configurations in the novel which are rendered through experimental usage of the topography of the page, hypertextual design, and inclusion of photographs and various visual media which altogether redefine the spatiality and materiality of the novel. The initial construction of the spatial form in the work comes from postmodernist narrative elements. Spatiality and space gain further significance in the novel’s fictional world, or narrative space, with Robert Smithson’s earthwork Spiral Jetty, which aims to show change, regression, and disintegration in nature as well as being the main inspiration in the ekphrastic ventures of the novel. Alana, one of the characters, works on a short documentary film on Spiral Jetty, leading her to think and question time and space and how space is subject to change with time. Hugh, another character, is a traveler in distant places like Europe, the Middle East, and Jordan, all of which turn into metaphors that help to shape the narrative and represent the mental spaces of its characters. Besides these stories on and about space, the print book also becomes a site rich with photographs, visual media, and verbal text. Through intermediality, the novel portrays a complex depiction of space at structural, narrative, and material levels. Such a presentation of the stories with postmodernist elements and hypertext and a critical sensibility of the materiality of the print medium turn the work into an art object to be viewed and read.1

David Brion Davis, Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World (Trevor Burnard)Louis Sala-Molins, Dark Side of the Light: Slavery and the French Enlightenment (R. Darrell Meadows)Stephanie E. Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora (Stephen D. Behrendt)Ruben Gowricharn, Caribbean Transnationalism: Migration, Pluralization, and Social Cohesion (D. Aliss a Trotz)Vilna Francine Bashi, Survival of the Knitted: Immigrant Social Networks in a Stratified World (Riva Berleant)Dwaine E. Plaza & Frances Henry (eds.), Returning to the Source: The Final Stage of the Caribbean Migration Circuit (Karen Fog Olwig)Howard J. Wiarda, The Dutch Diaspora: The Netherlands and Its Settlements in Africa, Asia, and the Americas (Han Jordaan) J. Christopher Kovats-Bernat, Sleeping Rough in Port-au-Prince: An Ethnography of Street Children &Violence in Haiti (Catherine Benoît)Ginetta E.B. Candelario, Black Behind the Ears: Dominican Racial Identity from Museums to Beauty Shops (María Isabel Quiñones)Paul Christopher Johnson, Diaspora Conversions: Black Carib Religion and the Recovery of Africa (Sarah England)Jessica Adams, Michael P. Bibler & Cécile Accilien (eds.), Just Below South: Intercultural Performance in the Caribbean and the U.S. South (Jean Muteba Rahier)Tina K. Ramnarine, Beautiful Cosmos: Performance and Belonging in the Caribbean Diaspora (Frank J. Korom)Patricia Joan Saunders, Alien-Nation and Repatriation: Translating Identity in Anglophone Caribbean Literature (Sue N. Greene)Mildred Mortimer, Writings from the Hearth: Public, Domestic, and Imaginative Space in Francophone Women’s Fiction of Africa and the Caribbean (Jacqueline Couti)Colin Woodard, The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down (Sabrina Guerra Moscoso)Peter L. Drewett & Mary Hill Harris, Above Sweet Waters: Cultural and Natural Change at Port St. Charles, Barbados, c. 1750 BC – AD 1850 (Frederick H. Smith)Reinaldo Funes Monzote, From Rainforest to Cane Field in Cuba: An Environmental History since 1492 (Bonham C. Richardson)Jean Besson & Janet Momsen (eds.), Caribbean Land and Development Revisited (Michaeline A. Crichlow)César J. Ayala & Rafael Bernabe, Puerto Rico in the American Century: A History since 1898 (Juan José Baldrich)Mindie Lazarus-Black, Everyday Harm: Domestic Violence, Court Rites, and Cultures of Reconciliation (Brackette F. Williams)Learie B. Luke, Identity and Secession in the Caribbean: Tobago versus Trinidad, 1889-1980 (Rita Pemberton)Michael E. Veal, Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae (Shannon Dudley)Garth L. Green & Philip W. Scher (eds.), Trinidad Carnival: The Cultural Politics of a Transnational Festival (Kim Johnson)Jocelyne Guilbault, Governing Sound: The Cultural Politics of Trinidad’s Carnival Musics (Donald R. Hill)Shannon Dudley, Music from Behind the Bridge: Steelband Spirit and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago (Stephen Stuempfle)Kevin K. Birth, Bacchanalian Sentiments: Musical Experiences and Political Counterpoints in Trinidad (Philip W. Scher)

Дослідження присвячене актуалізованому в січні 2024 р. в Давосі дискурсу щодо розробки та легітимації штучного інтелекту (ШІ) в трикутнику суперпотуг-інноваторів «США – ЄС – Китай». Феномен ШІ нами розглядається в категоріях когнітивної науки, що обумовлено близькістю, але не тотожністю позиціонування «концепту ШІ» та «поняття ШІ». Констатуємо, що проясненням поняття «ШІ» ще у 1969 р. зацікавилися аналітики Джон Маккарті та Патрік Дж. Хейс. В аналізі використовуємо їх тези про те, що: 1) поняття ШІ має витоки у феномені «інтелектуальних машин» часів Лейбніца; 2) наука про ШІ починається зі статті Тюрінга (Turing, 1950) «Обчислювальна техніка та інтелект» та із ідей Шеннона (Shannon, 1950) про те, як машину можна запрограмувати для гри в шахи (McCarthy and Hayes, 1969, р.463). Концепт «ШІ» позиціонуємо в номінації Товариства робототехніки та автоматизації (IEEE) США в матеріалах «Історія робототехніки: наративи та мережі» (Sabanovic et al., 2015). Наратив тут актуалізується в парадигмі дослідників К. Діндлера та О. С. Іверсена (Dindler and Iversen, 2007, р.232) як «запит на вигадку» (Fictional Inquiry), як техніка проєктування, дизайну майбутнього, що дозволяє «обхід існуючих соціокультурних структур та певного контексту шляхом створення частково вигаданих ситуацій, оповідей та артефактів». Концепт «праксеологія» (praxéologie) нами використано в парадигмі класифікатора наук Луї Бурдо (Bourdeau, 1882), актуалізованого Дж. фон Нойманом та О. Моргенштерном (von Neumann and Morgenstern, 2007) для означення математичної теорії ігор та стратегій. Концепт «автопоезис» (autopoietic) ми розглядаємо в кібернетичній парадигмі X. Матурани та Ф. Варели (Maturana and Varela, 1980), соціокібернетики, праць ряду дослідників (Dignum, 2019; Glaisyer, 2010; Gordon, 2021; Koetse, 2024). Концепт «легітимація» ми розглядаємо: 1. У витоках давньоримської традиції «конституціоналізму» Полібія; 2. У «De legibus» Цицерона, де вони були розвинуті і де легітимність позиціонує необхідність симетрії поведінки владних суб’єктів із вимогами норм закону у формулах «potestas ligitima» та «legitimum imperium» (Cicero, 1841); 3. У тріаді концепцій Лейбніца (Leibniz, 1667): (1) «Scientia generalis» – (2) «Subjectum Juris» – (3) «Politica hermetica» для прояснення ряду питань щодо: 1) ставлення до технічних артефактів; 2) наслідків саморозвитку мереж ШІ; 3) «самовиробництва ідентичності» ШІ в багатовимірному співвідношенні категорій «сущого» та «належного» у формуванні кібернетичної деонтології як синтезу інформаційної етики, як сущого та інформаційного права, як належного в аутопоезисі; 4. Концепті Азімова «роботіка» та змісті його 3-х законів для роботів; 5. Парадигмі ООН у документі «World 2005 Robotics Report (Abu-Shaqra, 2014, p.94). «Politica hermetica» ШІ розглядається в парадигмі Т. Джордана (Jordan, 1999) про те, що ми є свідками становлення кібервлади (technopowe) нової мереженої еліти (адхократів та нетократів), що: 1) на рівні індивідів проявляється через плинність ідентичності, переосмислення ієрархій та потоків інформації у формі кіберполітики (cyberpolitics); 2) саме технічне середовище визначає природу та межі віртуальних спільнот і особистостей; 3) техновлада виражається в домінуванні (domination), особливо з боку нової еліти, включаючи корпорації, які володіють кібернетичними знаннями (cybernetically proficient corporations), хакерів і уряди.

<p><strong>List of abstracts and authors:</strong></p><p><strong>1. Antipsychotics in anxiety disorders</strong></p><p>Christer Allgulander</p><p><strong>2. Anxiety in somatic disorders</strong></p><p>Christer Allgulander</p><p><strong>3. Community rehabilitation of the schizophrenic patient</strong></p><p>Orlando Alonso Betancourt, Maricela Morales Herrera</p><p><strong>4. Dual diagnosis: A theory-driven multidisciplinary approach for integrative care</strong></p><p>David Blackbeard</p><p><strong>5. The emotional language of the gut - when 'psyche' meets 'soma'</strong></p><p>Helen Clark</p><p><strong>6. The Psychotherapy of bipolar disorder</strong></p><p>Franco Colin</p><p><strong>7. The Psychotherapy of bipolar disorder</strong></p><p>Franco Colin</p><p><strong>8. Developing and adopting mental health policies and plans in Africa: Lessons from South Africa, Uganda and Zambia</strong></p><p>Sara Cooper, Sharon Kleintjes, Cynthia Isaacs, Fred Kigozi, Sheila Ndyanabangi, Augustus Kapungwe, John Mayeya, Michelle Funk, Natalie Drew, Crick Lund</p><p><strong>9. The importance of relapse prevention in schizophrenia</strong></p><p>Robin Emsley</p><p><strong>10. Mental Health care act: Fact or fiction?</strong></p><p>Helmut Erlacher, M Nagdee</p><p><strong>11. Does a dedicated 72-hour observation facility in a district hospital reduce the need for involuntary admissions to a psychiatric hospital?</strong></p><p>Lennart Eriksson</p><p><strong>12. The incidence and risk factors for dementia in the Ibadan study of ageing</strong></p><p>Oye Gureje, Lola Kola, Adesola Ogunniyi, Taiwo Abiona</p><p><strong>13. Is depression a disease of inflammation?</strong></p><p><strong></strong>Angelos Halaris</p><p><strong>14. Paediatric bipolar disorder: More heat than light?</strong></p><p>Sue Hawkridge</p><p><strong>15. EBM: Anova Conundrum</strong></p><p>Elizabeth L (Hoepie) Howell</p><p><strong>16. Tracking the legal status of a cohort of inpatients on discharge from a 72-hour assessment unit</strong></p><p>Bernard Janse van Rensburg</p><p><strong>17. Dual diagnosis units in psychiatric facilities: Opportunities and challenges</strong></p><p>Yasmien Jeenah</p><p><strong>18. Alcohol-induced psychotic disorder: A comparative study on the clinical characteristics of patients with alcohol dependence and schizophrenia</strong></p><p>Gerhard Jordaan, D G Nel, R Hewlett, R Emsley</p><p><strong>19. Anxiety disorders: the first evidence for a role in preventive psychiatry</strong></p><p>Andre F Joubert</p><p><strong>20. The end of risk assessment and the beginning of start</strong></p><p>Sean Kaliski</p><p><strong>21. Psychiatric disorders abd psychosocial correlates of high HIV risk sexual behaviour in war-effected Eatern Uganda</strong></p><p>E Kinyada, H A Weiss, M Mungherera, P Onyango Mangen, E Ngabirano, R Kajungu, J Kagugube, W Muhwezi, J Muron, V Patel</p><p><strong>22. One year of Forensic Psychiatric assessment in the Northern Cape: A comparison with an established assessment service in the Eastern Cape</strong></p><p>N K Kirimi, C Visser</p><p><strong>23. Mental Health service user priorities for service delivery in South Africa</strong></p><p>Sharon Kleintjes, Crick Lund, Leslie Swartz, Alan Flisher and MHaPP Research Programme Consortium</p><p><strong>24. The nature and extent of over-the-counter and prescription drug abuse in cape town</strong></p><p>Liezl Kramer</p><p><strong>25. Physical health issues in long-term psychiatric inpatients: An audit of nursing statistics and clinical files at Weskoppies Hospital</strong></p><p>Christa Kruger</p><p><strong>26. Suicide risk in Schizophrenia - 20 Years later, a cohort study</strong></p><p>Gian Lippi, Ean Smit, Joyce Jordaan, Louw Roos</p><p><strong>27.Developing mental health information systems in South Africa: Lessons from pilot projects in Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal</strong></p><p>Crick Lund, S Skeen, N Mapena, C Isaacs, T Mirozev and the Mental Health and Poverty Research Programme Consortium Institution</p><p><strong>28. Mental health aspects of South African emigration</strong></p><p>Maria Marchetti-Mercer</p><p><strong>29. What services SADAG can offer your patients</strong></p><p>Elizabeth Matare</p><p><strong>30. Culture and language in psychiatry</strong></p><p>Dan Mkize</p><p><strong>31. Latest psychotic episode</strong></p><p>Povl Munk-Jorgensen</p><p><strong>32. The Forensic profile of female offenders</strong></p><p>Mo Nagdee, Helmut Fletcher</p><p><strong>33. The intra-personal emotional impact of practising psychiatry</strong></p><p>Margaret Nair</p><p><strong>34. Highly sensitive persons (HSPs) and implications for treatment</strong></p><p>Margaret Nair</p><p><strong>35. Task shifting in mental health - The Kenyan experience</strong></p><p>David M Ndetei</p><p><strong>36. Bridging the gap between traditional healers and mental health in todya's modern psychiatry</strong></p><p>David M Ndetei</p><p><strong>37. Integrating to achieve modern psychiatry</strong></p><p>David M Ndetei</p><p><strong>38. Non-medical prescribing: Outcomes from a pharmacist-led post-traumatic stress disorder clinic</strong></p><p>A Parkinson</p><p><strong>39. Is there a causal relationship between alcohol and HIV? Implications for policy, practice and future research</strong></p><p>Charles Parry</p><p><strong>40. Global mental health - A new global health discipline comes of age</strong></p><p>Vikram Patel</p><p><strong>41. Integrating mental health into primary health care: Lessons from pilot District demonstration sites in Uganda and South Africa</strong></p><p>Inge Petersen, Arvin Bhana, K Baillie and MhaPP Research Programme Consortium</p><p><strong>42. Personality disorders -The orphan child in axis I - Axis II Dichotomy</strong></p><p><strong></strong>Willie Pienaar</p><p><strong>43. Case Studies in Psychiatric Ethics</strong></p><p>Willie Pienaar</p><p><strong>44. Coronary artery disease and depression: Insights into pathogenesis and clinical implications</strong></p><p>Janus Pretorius</p><p><strong>45. Impact of the Mental Health Care Act No. 17 of 2002 on designated hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal: Triumphs and trials</strong></p><p>Suvira Ramlall, Jennifer Chipps</p><p><strong>46. Biological basis of addication</strong></p><p>Solomon Rataemane</p><p><strong>47. Genetics of Schizophrenia</strong></p><p>Louw Roos</p><p><strong>48. Management of delirium - Recent advances</strong></p><p>Shaquir Salduker</p><p><strong>49. Social neuroscience: Brain research on social issues</strong></p><p>Manfred Spitzer</p><p><strong>50. Experiments on the unconscious</strong></p><p>Manfred Spitzer</p><p><strong>51. The Psychology and neuroscience of music</strong></p><p>Manfred Spitzer</p><p><strong>52. Mental disorders in DSM-V</strong></p><p>Dan Stein</p><p><strong>53. Personality, trauma exposure, PTSD and depression in a cohort of SA Metro policemen: A longitudinal study</strong></p><p>Ugashvaree Subramaney</p><p><strong>54. Eating disorders: An African perspective</strong></p><p>Christopher Szabo</p><p><strong>55. An evaluation of the WHO African Regional strategy for mental health 2001-2010</strong></p><p>Thandi van Heyningen, M Majavu, C Lund</p><p><strong>56. A unitary model for the motor origin of bipolar mood disorders and schizophrenia</strong></p><p>Jacques J M van Hoof</p><p><strong>57. The origin of mentalisation and the treatment of personality disorders</strong></p><p>Jacques J M Hoof</p><p><strong>58. How to account practically for 'The Cause' in psychiatric diagnostic classification</strong></p><p>C W (Werdie) van Staden</p><p><strong>POSTER PRESENTATIONS</strong></p><p><strong>59. Problem drinking and physical and sexual abuse at WSU Faculty of Health Sciences, Mthatha, 2009</strong></p><p>Orlando Alonso Betancourt, Maricela Morales Herrera, E, N Kwizera, J L Bernal Munoz</p><p><strong>60. Prevalence of alcohol drinking problems and other substances at WSU Faculty of Health Sciences, Mthatha, 2009</strong></p><p>Orlando Alonso Betancourt, Maricela Morales Herrera, E, N Kwizera, J L Bernal Munoz</p><p><strong>61. Lessons learnt from a modified assertive community-based treatment programme in a developing country</strong></p><p>Ulla Botha, Liezl Koen, John Joska, Linda Hering, Piet Ooosthuizen</p><p><strong>62. Perceptions of psychologists regarding the use of religion and spirituality in therapy</strong></p><p>Ottilia Brown, Diane Elkonin</p><p><strong>63. Resilience in families where a member is living with schizophreni</strong></p><p>Ottilia Brown, Jason Haddad, Greg Howcroft</p><p><strong>64. Fusion and grandiosity - The mastersonian approach to the narcissistic disorder of the self</strong></p><p>William Griffiths, D Macklin, Loray Daws</p><p><strong>65. Not being allowed to exist - The mastersonian approach to the Schizoid disorder of the self</strong></p><p>William Griffiths, D Macklin, Loray Daws</p><p><strong>66. Risky drug-injecting behaviours in Cape Town and the need for a needle exchange programme</strong></p><p>Volker Hitzeroth</p><p><strong>67. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome in adolescents in the Western Cape: A case series</strong></p><p>Terri Henderson</p><p><strong>68. Experience and view of local academic psychiatrists on the role of spirituality in South African specialist psychiatry, compared with a qualitative analysis of the medical literature</strong></p><p>Bernard Janse van Rensburg</p><p><strong>69. The role of defined spirituality in local specialist psychiatric practice and training: A model and operational guidelines for South African clinical care scenarios</strong></p><p>Bernard Janse van Rensburg</p><p><strong>70. Handedness in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder in an Afrikaner founder population</strong></p><p>Marinda Joubert, J L Roos, J Jordaan</p><p><strong>71. A role for structural equation modelling in subtyping schizophrenia in an African population</strong></p><p>Liezl Koen, Dana Niehaus, Esme Jordaan, Robin Emsley</p><p><strong>72. Caregivers of disabled elderly persons in Nigeria</strong></p><p>Lola Kola, Oye Gureje, Adesola Ogunniyi, Dapo Olley</p><p><strong>73. HIV Seropositivity in recently admitted and long-term psychiatric inpatients: Prevalence and diagnostic profile</strong></p><p>Christina Kruger, M P Henning, L Fletcher</p><p><strong>74. Syphilis seropisitivity in recently admitted longterm psychiatry inpatients: Prevalence and diagnostic profile</strong></p><p>Christina Kruger, M P Henning, L Fletcher</p><p><strong>75. 'The Great Suppression'</strong></p><p>Sarah Lamont, Joel Shapiro, Thandi Groves, Lindsey Bowes</p><p><strong>76. Not being allowed to grow up - The Mastersonian approach to the borderline personality</strong></p><p>Daleen Macklin, W Griffiths</p><p><strong>77. Exploring the internal confirguration of the cycloid personality: A Rorschach comprehensive system study</strong></p><p>Daleen Macklin, Loray Daws, M Aronstam</p><p><strong>78. A survey to determine the level of HIV related knowledge among adult psychiatric patients admitted to Weskoppies Hospital</strong></p><p><strong></strong> T G Magagula, M M Mamabolo, C Kruger, L Fletcher</p><p><strong>79. A survey of risk behaviour for contracting HIV among adult psychiatric patients admitted to Weskoppies Hospital</strong></p><p>M M Mamabolo, T G Magagula, C Kruger, L Fletcher</p><p><strong>80. A retrospective review of state sector outpatients (Tara Hospital) prescribed Olanzapine: Adherence to metabolic and cardiovascular screening and monitoring guidelines</strong></p><p>Carina Marsay, C P Szabo</p><p><strong>81. Reported rapes at a hospital rape centre: Demographic and clinical profiles</strong></p><p>Lindi Martin, Kees Lammers, Donavan Andrews, Soraya Seedat</p><p><strong>82. Exit examination in Final-Year medical students: Measurement validity of oral examinations in psychiatry</strong></p><p>Mpogisheng Mashile, D J H Niehaus, L Koen, E Jordaan</p><p><strong>83. Trends of suicide in the Transkei region of South Africa</strong></p><p>Banwari Meel</p><p><strong>84. Functional neuro-imaging in survivors of torture</strong></p><p>Thriya Ramasar, U Subramaney, M D T H W Vangu, N S Perumal</p><p><strong>85. Newly diagnosed HIV+ in South Africa: Do men and women enroll in care?</strong></p><p>Dinesh Singh, S Hoffman, E A Kelvin, K Blanchard, N Lince, J E Mantell, G Ramjee, T M Exner</p><p><strong>86. Diagnostic utitlity of the International HIC Dementia scale for Asymptomatic HIV-Associated neurocognitive impairment and HIV-Associated neurocognitive disorder in South Africa</strong></p><p>Dinesh Singh, K Goodkin, D J Hardy, E Lopez, G Morales</p><p><strong>87. The Psychological sequelae of first trimester termination of pregnancy (TOP): The impact of resilience</strong></p><p>Ugashvaree Subramaney</p><p><strong>88. Drugs and other therapies under investigation for PTSD: An international database</strong></p><p>Sharain Suliman, Soraya Seedat</p><p><strong>89. Frequency and correlates of HIV Testing in patients with severe mental illness</strong></p><p>Hendrik Temmingh, Leanne Parasram, John Joska, Tania Timmermans, Pete Milligan, Helen van der Plas, Henk Temmingh</p><p><strong>90. A proposed mental health service and personnel organogram for the Elizabeth Donkin psychiatric Hospital</strong></p><p>Stephan van Wyk, Zukiswa Zingela</p><p><strong>91. A brief report on the current state of mental health care services in the Eastern Cape</strong></p><p>Stephan van Wyk, Zukiswa Zingela, Kiran Sukeri, Heloise Uys, Mo Nagdee, Maricela Morales, Helmut Erlacher, Orlando Alonso</p><p><strong>92. An integrated mental health care service model for the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro</strong></p><p>Stephan van Wyk, Zukiswa Zingela, Kiran Sukeri</p><p><strong>93. Traditional and alternative healers: Prevalence of use in psychiatric patients</strong></p><p>Zukiswa Zingela, S van Wyk, W Esterhuysen, E Carr, L Gaauche</p>

Abstract The present article purported to gain insights about English as a second language (ESL) learners’ knowledge of grammatical functions at the declarative and the procedural levels in the higher education context, and argued that the dialogue between the types of knowledge calls for more attention. The study utilised a Words-in-Sentences Test that was administered to 841 ESL students in seven colleges and universities in three Arab countries: United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Oman. The test was used to measure the participants’ declarative knowledge of grammatical functions. The participants’ test scores were then correlated with their essay writing scores to find if there is a significant correlation between the two, and thus gain insight into the relationship between the declarative knowledge and the procedural knowledge of grammatical functions. Finally, a qualitative analysis was conducted on nine essays to gain an in-depth understanding of this relationship. The findings indicated that the university participants’ declarative knowledge of grammatical functions was below the expected level and that there was a significant correlation between the learners’ test scores and writing scores. In addition, intriguing themes emerged from the qualitative analysis. Together, the findings are anticipated to spark more research on grammatical function knowledge among university students in ESL contexts.

Armed conflict creates a context of high uncertainty and risk, where accurate and verifiable information is extremely difficult to find. This is a prime environment for unverified information—rumors—to spread. Meanwhile, there is insufficient understanding of exactly how rumor transmission occurs within conflict zones. I address this with an examination of the mechanisms through which people evaluate new information. Building on findings from research on motivated reasoning, I argue that elite-driven narrative contests—competitions between elites to define how civilians should understand conflict—increase the difficulty of distinguishing fact from fiction. Civilians respond by attempting thorough evaluations of new information that they hope will allow them to distinguish evidence from narratives. These evaluations tend to involve some combination of self-evaluation, evaluation of the source, and collective sense-making. I examine this argument using over 200 interviews with Syrian refugees conducted in Jordan and Turkey. My findings indicate that people are usually unable to effectively distinguish evidence from narratives, so narrative contests are powerful drivers of rumor evaluation. Still, civilian mechanisms of rumor evaluation do constrain what propaganda elites can spread. These findings contribute to research on civil war, narrative formation, and information diffusion.

What began as a simple request for a book by one of my former students, at times, has not been so simple. The student, whom I refer to as Carla (name changed), hoped to read about characters similar to herself and her friends. As a teacher, I have often tried to hook my students on reading by presenting books with characters to which they can relate. These books can help increase their overall knowledge of the world, open their minds to multiple realities and variations of the human experience and provide scenarios in which they can live vicariously. Carla’s request was a bit more complicated than I had imagined. As a “Deaf” student who attended a state school for the Deaf and who viewed herself as a member of a linguistic cultural minority, she expected to read a book with characters who used American Sign Language and who participated as members within the Deaf Community. She did not want to read didactic books about deafness but wanted books with unpredictable plots and believable characters. Having graduated from a teacher-preparation program in Deaf Education, I had read numerous books about deafness. While memoirs and biographical selections had been relatively easy to acquire and were on my bookshelf, I had not once read any fictional books for adolescents that included a deaf character. (I refer to ‘Deaf’ as representing individuals who identify in a linguistic, cultural minority group. The term ‘deaf’ is used as a more generic term given to individuals with some degree of hearing loss. In other articles, ‘deaf’ has been used pejoratively or in connection to a view by those who believe one without the sense of hearing is inferior or lacking. I do not believe or wish to imply that. ) As a High School teacher with so many additional work responsibilities outside of classroom teaching, finding fictional books with deaf characters was somewhat of a challenge. Nevertheless, after some research I was able to recommend a book that I thought would be a good summer read. Nancy Butts’ Cheshire Moon (1992) is charming book about thirteen-year-old Miranda who is saddened by her cousin’s death and furious at her parents' insistence that she speak rather than sign. The plot turns slightly mystical when the teens begin having similar dreams under the “Cheshire moon”. Yet, the story is about Miranda, a deaf girl, who struggles with communication. Without her cousin, the only member of her family who was fluent in sign language, communication is difficult and embarrassing. Miranda feels isolated, alienated, and unsure of herself. Because of the main character’s age, the book was not the best recommendation for a high school student; however, when Carla finished Cheshire Moon, she asked for another book with Deaf characters. Problem & Purpose Historically, authors have used deafness as a literary device to relay various messages about the struggles of humankind and elicit sympathy from readers (Batson & Bergman; Bergman; Burns; Krentz; Panara; Taylor, "Deaf Characters" I, II, III; Schwartz; Wilding-Diaz). In recent decades, however, the general public’s awareness of and perhaps interest in deaf people has risen along with that of our increasingly multicultural world. Educational legislation has increased awareness of the deaf as has news coverage of Gallaudet University protests. In addition, Deaf people have benefited from advances in communicative technology, such as Video Relay (VRS) and instant messaging pagers, more coordinated interpreting services and an increase in awareness of American Sign Language. Authors are incorporating more deaf characters than they did in the past. However, this increase does not necessarily translate to an increase in understanding of the deaf, nor does it translate to the most accurate, respectably, well-rounded characterization of the deaf (Pajka-West, "Perceptions"). Acquiring fictional books that include deaf characters can be time-consuming and challenging for teachers and librarians. The research examining deaf characters in fiction is extremely limited (Burns; Guella; Krentz; Wilding-Diaz). The most recent articles predominately focus on children’s literature — specifically picture books (Bailes; Brittain). Despite decades of research affirming culturally authentic children’s literature and the merits of multicultural literature, a coexisting body of research reveals the lack of culturally authentic texts (Applebee; Campbell & Wirtenberg; Ernest; Larrick; Sherriff; Taxel). Moreover, children’s books with deaf characters are used as informational depictions of deaf individuals (Bockmiller, 1980). Readers of such resource books, typically parents, teachers and their students, gain information about deafness and individuals with “disabilities” (Bockmiller, 1980; Civiletto & Schirmer, 2000). If an important purpose for deaf characters in fiction is educational and informational, then there is a need for the characters to be presented as realistic models of deaf people. If not, the readers of such fiction gain inaccurate information about deafness including reinforced negative stereotypes, as can occur in any other literature portraying cultural minorities (Pajka-West, "Perceptions"). Similar to authors’ informational depictions, writers also reveal societal understanding of groups of people through their fiction (Banfield & Wilson; Panara; Rudman). Literature has often stigmatized minority culture individuals based upon race, ethnicity, disability, gender and/or sexual orientation. While readers might recognize the negative depictions and dismiss them as harmless stereotypes, these portrayals could become a part of the unconscious of members of our society. If books continually reinforce stereotypical depictions of deaf people, individuals belonging to the group might be typecast and discouraged into a limited way of being. As an educator, I want all of my students to have unlimited opportunities for the future, not disadvantaged by stereotypes. The Study For my doctoral dissertation, I examined six contemporary adolescent literature books with deaf characters. The research methodology for this study required book selection, reader sample selection, instrument creation, book analysis, questionnaire creation, and data analysis. My research questions included: 1) Are deaf characters being presented as culturally Deaf characters or as pathologically deaf and disabled; 2) Do these readers favor deaf authors over hearing ones? If so, why; and, 3) How do deaf and hearing adult readers perceive deaf characters in adolescent literature? The Sample The book sample included 102 possible books for the study ranging from adolescent to adult selections. I selected books that were recognized as suitable for middle school or high school readers based upon the reading and interest levels established by publishers. The books also had to include main characters who are deaf and deaf characters who are human. The books selected were all realistic fiction, available to the public, and published or reissued for publication within the last fifteen years. The six books that were selected included: Nick’s Secret by C. Blatchford; A Maiden’s Grave by J. Deaver; Of Sound Mind by J. Ferris; Deaf Child Crossing by M. Matlin; Apple Is My Sign by M. Riskind; and Finding Abby by V. Scott. For the first part of my study, I analyzed these texts using the Adolescent Literature Content Analysis Check-off Form (ALCAC) which includes both pathological and cultural perspective statements derived from Deaf Studies, Disability Studies and Queer Theory. The participant sample included adult readers who fit within three categories: those who identified as deaf, those who were familiar with or had been acquaintances with deaf individuals, and those who were unfamiliar having never associated with deaf individuals. Each participant completed a Reader-Response Survey which included ten main questions derived from Deaf Studies and Schwartz’ ‘Criteria for Analyzing Books about Deafness’. The survey included both dichotomous and open-ended questions. Research Questions & Methodology Are deaf characters being presented as culturally Deaf or as pathologically deaf and disabled? In previous articles, scholars have stated that most books with deaf characters include a pathological perspective; yet, few studies actually exist to conclude this assertion. In my study, I analyzed six books to determine whether they supported the cultural or the pathological perspective of deafness. The goal was not to exclusively label a text either/or but to highlight the distinct perspectives to illuminate a discussion regarding a deaf character. As before mentioned, the ALCAC instrument incorporates relevant theories and prior research findings in reference to the portrayals of deaf characters and was developed to specifically analyze adolescent literature with deaf characters. Despite the historical research regarding deaf characters and due to the increased awareness of deaf people and American Sign Language, my initial assumption was that the authors of the six adolescent books would present their deaf characters as more culturally ‘Deaf’. This was confirmed for the majority of the books. I believed that an outsider, such as a hearing writer, could carry out an adequate portrayal of a culture other than his own. In the past, scholars did not believe this was the case; however, the results from my study demonstrated that the majority of the hearing authors presented the cultural perspective model. Initially shocking, the majority of deaf authors incorporated the pathological perspective model. I offer three possible reasons why these deaf authors included more pathological perspective statements while the hearing authors include more cultural perspective statements: First, the deaf authors have grown up deaf and perhaps experienced more scenarios similar to those presented from the pathological perspective model. Even if the deaf authors live more culturally Deaf lifestyles today, authors include their experiences growing up in their writing. Second, there are less deaf characters in the books written by deaf authors and more characters and more character variety in the books written by the hearing authors. When there are fewer deaf characters interacting with other deaf characters, these characters tend to interact with more hearing characters who are less likely to be aware of the cultural perspective. And third, with decreased populations of culturally Deaf born to culturally Deaf individuals, it seems consistent that it may be more difficult to obtain a book from a Deaf of Deaf author. Similarly, if we consider the Deaf person’s first language is American Sign Language, Deaf authors may be spending more time composing stories and poetry in American Sign Language and less time focusing upon English. This possible lack of interest may make the number of ‘Deaf of Deaf’ authors, or culturally Deaf individuals raised by culturally Deaf parents, who pursue and are successful publishing a book in adolescent literature low. At least in adolescent literature, deaf characters, as many other minority group characters, are being included in texts to show young people our increasingly multicultural world. Adolescent literature readers can now become aware of a range of deaf characters, including characters who use American Sign Language, who attend residential schools for the Deaf, and even who have Deaf families. Do the readers favor deaf authors over hearing ones? A significant part of my research was based upon the perceptions of adult readers of adolescent literature with deaf characters. I selected participants from a criterion sampling and divided them into three groups: 1. Adults who had attended either a special program for the deaf or a residential school for the deaf, used American Sign Language, and identified themselves as deaf were considered for the deaf category of the study; 2. Adults who were friends, family members, co-workers or professionals in fields connected with individuals who identify themselves as deaf were considered for the familiar category of the study; and, 3. hearing adults who were not aware of the everyday experiences of deaf people and who had not taken a sign language class, worked with or lived with a deaf person were considered for the unfamiliar category of the study. Nine participants were selected for each group totaling 27 participants (one participant from each of the groups withdrew before completion, leaving eight participants from each of the groups to complete the study). To elicit the perspectives of the participants, I developed a Reader Response survey which was modeled after Schwartz’s ‘Criteria for Analyzing Books about Deafness’. I assumed that the participants from Deaf and Familiar groups would prefer the books written by the deaf authors while the unfamiliar participants would act more as a control group. This was not confirmed through the data. In fact, the Deaf participants along with the participants as a whole preferred the books written by the hearing authors as better describing their perceptions of realistic deaf people, for presenting deaf characters adequately and realistically, and for the hearing authors’ portrayals of deaf characters matching with their perceptions of deaf people. In general, the Deaf participants were more critical of the deaf authors while the familiar participants, although as a group preferred the books by the hearing authors, were more critical of the hearing authors. Participants throughout all three groups mentioned their preference for a spectrum of deaf characters. The books used in this study that were written by hearing authors included a variety of characters. For example, Riskind’s Apple Is My Sign includes numerous deaf students at a school for the deaf and the main character living within a deaf family; Deaver’s A Maiden’s Grave includes deaf characters from a variety of backgrounds attending a residential school for the deaf and only a few hearing characters; and Ferris’ Of Sound Mind includes two deaf families with two CODA or hearing teens. The books written by the deaf authors in this study include only a few deaf characters. For example, Matlin’s Deaf Child Crossing includes two deaf girls surrounded by hearing characters; Scott’s Finding Abby includes more minor deaf characters but readers learn about these characters from the hearing character’s perspective. For instance, the character Jared uses sign language and attends a residential school for the deaf but readers learn this information from his hearing mother talking about him, not from the deaf character’s words. Readers know that he communicates through sign language because we are told that he does; however, the only communication readers are shown is a wave from the child; and, Blatchford’s Nick’s Secret includes only one deaf character. With the fewer deaf characters it is nearly impossible for the various ways of being deaf to be included in the book. Thus, the preference for the books by the hearing authors is more likely connected to the preference for a variety of deaf people represented. How do readers perceive deaf characters? Participants commented on fourteen main and secondary characters. Their perceptions of these characters fall into six categories: the “normal” curious kid such as the characters Harry (Apple Is My Sign), Jeremy (Of Sound Mind) and Jared (Finding Abby); the egocentric spoiled brat such as Palma (Of Sound Mind) and Megan (Deaf Child Crossing); the advocate such as Harry’s mother (Apple Is My Sign) and Susan (A Maiden’s Grave); those dependent upon the majority culture such as Palma (Of Sound Mind) and Lizzie (Deaf Child Crossing); those isolated such as Melissa (Finding Abby), Ben (Of Sound Mind), Nick (Nick’s Secret) and Thomas (Of Sound Mind); and, those searching for their identities such as Melanie (A Maiden’s Grave) and Abby (Finding Abby). Overall, participants commented more frequently about the deaf characters in the books by the hearing authors (A Maiden’s Grave; Of Sound Mind; Apple Is My Sign) and made more positive comments about the culturally Deaf male characters, particularly Ben Roper, Jeremy and Thomas of Of Sound Mind, and Harry of Apple Is My Sign. Themes such as the characters being dependent and isolated from others did arise. For example, Palma in Of Sound Mind insists that her hearing son act as her personal interpreter so that she can avoid other hearing people. Examples to demonstrate the isolation some of the deaf characters experience include Nick of Nick’s Secret being the only deaf character in his story and Ben Roper of Of Sound Mind being the only deaf employee in his workplace. While these can certainly be read as negative situations the characters experience, isolation is a reality that resonates in some deaf people’s experiences. With communicative technology and more individuals fluent in American Sign Language, some deaf individuals may decide to associate more with individuals in the larger culture. One must interpret purposeful isolation such as Ben Roper’s (Of Sound Mind) case, working in a location that provides him with the best employment opportunities, differently than Melissa Black’s (Finding Abby) isolating feelings of being left out of family dinner discussions. Similarly, variations in characterization including the egocentric, spoiled brat and those searching for their identities are common themes in adolescent literature with or without deaf characters being included. Positive examples of deaf characters including the roles of the advocate such as Susan (A Maiden’s Grave) and Harry’s mother (Apple Is My Sign), along with descriptions of regular everyday deaf kids increases the varieties of deaf characters. As previously stated, my study included an analysis based on literary theory and prior research. At that time, unless the author explicitly told readers in a foreword or a letter to readers, I had no way of truly knowing why the deaf character was included and why the author made such decisions. This uncertainty of the author’s decisions changed for me in 2007 with the establishment of my educational blog. Beginning to Blog When I started my educational blog Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature in February 2007, I did not plan to become a blogger nor did I have any plans for my blog. I simply opened a Blogger account and added a list of 106 books with deaf characters that was connected to my research. Once I started blogging on a regular basis, I discovered an active audience who not only read what I wrote but who truly cared about my research. Blogging had become a way for me to keep my research current; since my blog was about deaf characters in adolescent literature, it became an advocacy tool that called attention to authors and books that were not widely publicized; and, it enabled me to become part of a cyber community made up of other bloggers and readers. After a few months of blogging on a weekly basis, I began to feel a sense of obligation to research and post my findings. While continuing to post to my blog, I have acquired more information about my research topic and even received advance reader copies prior to the books’ publication dates. This enables me to discuss the most current books. It also enables my readers to learn about such books. My blog acts as free advertisement for the publishing companies and authors. I currently have 195 contemporary books with deaf characters and over 36 author and professional interviews. While the most rewarding aspect of blogging is connecting with readers, there have been some major highlights in the process. As I stated, I had no way of knowing why the deaf character was included in the books until I began interviewing the authors. I had hoped that the hearing authors of books with deaf characters would portray their characters realistically but I had not realized the authors’ personal connections to actual deaf people. For instance, Delia Ray, Singing Hands, wrote about a Deaf preacher and his family. Her book was based on her grandfather who was a Deaf preacher and leading pioneer in the Deaf Community. Ray is not the only hearing author who has a personal connection to deaf people. Other examples include: Jean Ferris, Of Sound Mind, who earned a degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology. Ferris’ book includes only two hearing characters, the majority are Deaf. All of her characters are also fluent in American Sign Language; Jodi Cutler Del Dottore, Rally Caps, who includes a deaf character named Luca who uses a cochlear implant. Luca is based on Cutler Del Dottore’s son, Jordan, who also has a cochlear implant; finally, Jacqueline Woodson, Feathers, grew up in a community that included deaf people who did not use sign language. As an adult, she met members of the Deaf Community and began learning American Sign Language herself. Woodson introduces readers to Sean who is attractive, funny, and intelligent. In my study, I noted that all of the deaf characters where not diverse based upon race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status (Pajka-West, "Perceptions"). Sean is the first Deaf American-African character in adolescent literature who uses sign language to communicate. Another main highlight is finding Deaf authors who do not receive the mainstream press that other authors might receive. For example, Ann Clare LeZotte, T4, introduces readers to main character Paula Becker, a thirteen year old deaf girl who uses sign language and lipreading to communicate. Through verse, we learn of Paula’s life in Germany during Hitler’s time as she goes into hiding since individuals with physical and mental disabilities were being executed under the orders of Hitler’s Tiergartenstrasse 4 (T4). One additional highlight is that I learn about insider tips and am then able to share this information with my blog readers. In one instance I began corresponding with Marvel Comic’s David Mack, the creator of Echo, a multilingual, biracial, Deaf comic book character who debuted in Daredevil and later The New Avengers. In comics, it is Marvel who owns the character; while Echo was created for Daredevil by Mack, she later appears in The New Avengers. In March 2008, discussion boards were buzzing since issue #39 would include original creator, Mack, among other artists. To make it less complicated for those who do not follow comics, the issue was about whether or not Echo had become a skrull, an alien who takes over the body of the character. This was frightening news since potentially Echo could become a hearing skrull. I just did not believe that Mack would let that happen. My students and I held numerous discussions about the implications of Marvel’s decisions and finally I sent Mack an email. While he could not reveal the details of the issue, he did assure me that my students and I would be pleased. I’m sure there was a collective sigh from readers once his email was published on the blog. Final Thoughts While there have been pejorative depictions of the deaf in literature, the portrayals of deaf characters in adolescent literature have become much more realistic in the last decade. Authors have personal connections with actual deaf individuals which lend to the descriptions of their deaf characters; they are conducting more detailed research to develop their deaf characters; and, they appear to be much more aware of the Deaf Community than they were in the past. A unique benefit of the genre is that authors of adolescent literature often give the impression of being more available to the readers of their books. Authors often participate in open dialogues with their fans through social networking sites or discussion boards on their own websites. After posting interviews with the authors on my blog, I refer readers to the author’s on site whether it through personal blogs, websites, Facebook or Twitter pages. While hearing authors’ portrayals now include a spectrum of deaf characters, we must encourage Deaf and Hard of Hearing writers to include more deaf characters in their works. Consider again my student Carla and her longing to find books with deaf characters. Deaf characters in fiction act as role models for young adults. A positive portrayal of deaf characters benefits deaf adolescents whether or not they see themselves as biologically deaf or culturally deaf. Only through on-going publishing, more realistic and positive representations of the deaf will occur. References Bailes, C.N. "Mandy: A Critical Look at the Portrayal of a Deaf Character in Children’s Literature." Multicultural Perspectives 4.4 (2002): 3-9. Batson, T. "The Deaf Person in Fiction: From Sainthood to Rorschach Blot." Interracial Books for Children Bulletin 11.1-2 (1980): 16-18. Batson, T., and E. Bergman. Angels and Outcasts: An Anthology of Deaf Characters in Literature. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press (1985). Bergman, E. "Literature, Fictional characters in." In J.V. Van Cleve (ed.), Gallaudet Encyclopedia of Deaf People & Deafness. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: McGraw Hill, 1987. 172-176. Brittain, I. "An Examination into the Portrayal of Deaf Characters and Deaf Issues in Picture Books for Children." Disability Studies Quarterly 24.1 (Winter 2004). 24 Apr. 2005 < http://www.dsq-sds.org >. Burns, D.J. An Annotated Checklist of Fictional Works Which Contain Deaf Characters. Unpublished master’s thesis. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University,1950. Campbell, P., and J. Wirtenberg. How Books Influence Children: What the Research Shows. Interracial Books for Children Bulletin 11.6 (1980): 3-6. Civiletto, C.L., and B.R. Schirmer. "Literature with Characters Who Are Deaf." The Dragon Lode 19.1 (Fall 2000): 46-49. Guella, B. "Short Stories with Deaf Fictional Characters." American Annals of the Deaf 128.1 (1983): 25-33. Krentz, C. "Exploring the 'Hearing Line': Deafness, Laughter, and Mark Twain." In S. L. Snyder, B. J. Brueggemann, and R. Garland-Thomson, eds., Disability Studies: Enabling the Humanities. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2002. 234-247. Larrick, N. "The All-White World of Children's Books. Saturday Review 11 (1965): 63-85. Pajka-West, S. “The Perceptions of Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature”. The ALAN Review 34.3 (Summer 2007): 39-45. ———. "The Portrayals and Perceptions of Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature." Ph.D. dissertation. University of Virginia, 2007. ———. "Interview with Deaf Author Ann Clare LeZotte about T4, Her Forthcoming Book Told in Verse." Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature, 5 Aug. 2008. < http://pajka.blogspot.com/ 2008/08/interview-with-deaf-author-ann-clare.html >.———. "Interview with Delia Ray, Author of Singing Hands." Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature, 23 Aug. 2007. < http://pajka.blogspot.com/ 2007/08/interview-with-delia-ray-author-of.html >.———. "Interview with Jacqueline Woodson, author of Feathers." Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature, 29 Sep. 2007. < http://pajka.blogspot.com/ 2007/09/interview-with-jacqueline-woodson.html >. ———. "Interview with Jodi Cutler Del Dottore, author of Rally Caps." Deaf Characters in Adolescent Literature, 13 Aug. 2007. < http://pajka.blogspot.com/ 2007/08/interview-with-jodi-cutler-del-dottore.html >. Panara, R. "Deaf Characters in Fiction and Drama." The Deaf American 24.5 (1972): 3-8. Schwartz, A.V. "Books Mirror Society: A Study of Children’s Materials." Interracial Books for Children Bulletin 11.1-2 (1980): 19-24. Sherriff, A. The Portrayal of Mexican American Females in Realistic Picture Books (1998-2004). University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: 2005. Taxel, J. "The Black Experience in Children's Fiction: Controversies Surrounding Award Winning Books." Curriculum Inquiry 16 (1986): 245-281. Taylor, G.M. "Deaf Characters in Short Stories: A Selective Bibliography. The Deaf American 26.9 (1974): 6-8. ———. "Deaf Characters in Short Stories: A Selective Bibliography II." The Deaf American 28.11 (1976): 13-16.———. "Deaf Characters in Short Stories: A Selective Bibliography III." The Deaf American 29.2 (1976): 27-28. Wilding-Diaz, M.M. Deaf Characters in Children’s Books: How Are They Portrayed? Unpublished master’s thesis. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, 1993.———. "Deaf Characters in Children’s Books: How Are They Perceived?" In Gallaudet University College for Continuing Education and B.D. Snider (eds.), Journal: Post Milan ASL & English Literacy: Issues, Trends & Research Conference Proceedings, 20-22 Oct. 1993.Adolescent Fiction Books Blatchford, C. Nick’s Secret. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 2000. Deaver, J. A Maiden’s Grave. New York: Signet, 1996. Ferris, J. Of Sound Mind. New York: Sunburst, 2004. Matlin, M. Deaf Child Crossing. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 2004. Riskind, M. Apple Is My Sign. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1981. Scott, V. Finding Abby. Hillsboro, OR: Butte, 2000.

News and Announcements1) Canadian Children's Book News, Spring 2015 IssueIn recognition of the TD Canadian Children's Book Week and its theme "Hear Our Stories: Celebrating First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature," this issue explores several facets of this vibrant part of children's literature. It includes a profile of author David Alexander Robertson and a look at the publishers and market for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit stories.2) TD Canadian Children's Book Week (May 2- May 9, 2015) is the single most important national event celebrating Canadian children’s books and the importance of reading. More than 28,000 children, teens, and adults participate in activities held in every province and territory across the country. Hundreds of schools, public libraries, bookstores, and community centres host events as part of this major literary festival. It is organized by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, in partnership with the Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada.3) Free Comic Book Day (May 2, 2015) takes place annually on the first Saturday in May. It is a single day when participating comic book specialty shops and public libraries across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops! For more information: http://www.freecomicbookday.com/Home/1/1/27/9924) Canadian Authors for Indies Day (May 2, 2015)Authors across Canada support independent bookstores by volunteering as guest book sellers. To see who may be in your local indie book store, go to http://www.authorsforindies.com/5) Storytellers of Canada/Conteurs du Canada conference: Where Languages Meet (July 2-5, 2015). This year’s conference is in Lévis, Quebec where a rich storytelling tradition awaits. La Maison Natale Louis Fréchette – birthplace of one of Quebec’s most celebrated poets – hosts the SC-CC conference which proudly brings a range of vibrant programming in both official languages storytellers and listeners. http://www.storytellers-conteurs.ca/en/conference/storytellers-conference-2015.html6) Words in 3 Dimensions Conference 2015: Intersections (May 22 to 24, 2015)Held at the Chateau Lacombe Hotel in Edmonton for this second edition, the conference connects writers, editors, publishers, and agents from across Canada. This weekend focuses on how and where a writer’s work with words intersects with other disciplines. http://www.wordsin3d.com/7) The 2015 Storytelling World Resource Awards (storytellingworld.com/2015/) includes the following Canadian titles :Stories for Pre-Adolescent Listeners: Not My Girl: the True Sotry of a Daughter's Cultural Adjustmentsby Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton (Annick Press)Stories for Adolescent Listeners: Hope Springs: a Story of Complassion and understanding by Eric Walters (Tundra Books)8) IBBY Canada (International Board on Books for Young People, Canadian section). Stop, Thief!, illustrated by Pierre Pratt and written by Heather Tekavec (Kids Can Press, 2014), is the winner of the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award. Pierre was also nominated [again] by IBBY Canada for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award.” www.ibby-canada.org/elizabeth-mrazik-cleaver-pratt/And now, a plethora of shortlist announcements:1) The 2015 Alberta Literary Awards ShortlistWinners will be announced and awards presented at the Alberta Literary Awards Gala on Saturday, May 23, 2015. The celebration will take place at the Chateau Lacombe Hotel (10111 Bellamy Hill Road) in Edmonton alongside the 2015 Words in 3 Dimensions Conference: Intersections (see above).A full list of award categories and nominees can be found at http://writersguild.ca/2015-alberta-literary-awards-shortlist/2) R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature (www.bookcentre.ca/awards/r_ross_annett_award_childrens_literature) Victor Lethbridge– You're Just Right (Tatanka Books)Leanne Shirtliffe– The Change Your Name Store (Sky Pony Press)Richard Van Camp– Little You (Orca Book Publishers) 3) 2014 Science in Society Book Awards Shortlists. Two annual book awards honour outstanding contributions to science writing. One is for books intended for children ages 8-12; the other for book aimed at the general public. Winners will be announced on Canada Book Day, April 23, 2015. http://sciencewriters.ca/awards/book-awards/Zoobots by Helaine Becker, Kids Can Press.Starting from Scratch by Sarah Elton, Owl Kids Books.It’s Catching by Jennifer Gardy, Owl Kids Books.The Fly by Elise Gravel, Penguin Random House.If by David J. Smith, Kids Can Press.4) 2015 Atlantic Book Awards ShortlistThe full shortlist for the eight different book prizes comprising the 2015 Atlantic Book Awards can be found www.atlanticbookawards.ca. Below are the nominees for the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children’s Literature and the Lillian Shepherd Award for Excellence in Illustration. Winners will be announced Thursday, May 14, 2015.Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children’s LiteratureJack, the King of Ashes by Andy Jones (Running Goat Books & Broadsides)Flame and Ashes: The Great Fire Diary of Triffie Winsor (Dear Canada series) by Janet McNaughton (Scholastic Canada Ltd.)The End of the Line by Sharon E. McKay (Annick Press Ltd.)Lillian Sheperd Award for Excellence in IllustrationSydney Smith (nominee) Music is for Everyone by Jill Barber (Nimbus Publishing)Michael Pittman (nominee) Wow Wow and Haw Haw by George Murray(Breakwater Books)Nancy Rose (nominee) The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose (Penguin Canada)5) Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award shortlist.During even-numbered years, these awards honour fiction and children’s/young adult fiction books; odd-numbered years recognise poetry and non-fiction. The winners will be announced May 27, 2015. This year’s list of finalists for the Newfoundland and Labrador Non-fiction Award are all first-time authors (http://wanl.ca/literary_awards)Alan Doyle for Where I Belong: From Small Town to Great Big Sea (Doubleday Canada)Janet Merlo for No One to Tell: Breaking My Silence on Life in the RCMP (Breakwater Books)Andrew Peacock for Creatures of the Rock (Doubleday Canada)Three acclaimed Newfoundland poets are shortlisted for the E.J. Pratt Poetry Award:Michael Crummey for Under the Keel(House of Anansi Press)Mary Dalton for Hooking (Véhicule Press)Carmelita McGrath for Escape Velocity (Goose Lane Editions)6) 2015 Information Book Award Shortlist announced by the Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada. Voting Deadline: Saturday October 31, 2015.Any Questions? by Marie-Louise Gay.(Groundwood Books). A Brush Full of Colour: The World of Ted Harrison. by Margriet Ruurs & Katherine Gibson (Pajama Press).Do You Know Komodo Dragons? by Alain M. Bergeron, Michel Quintin, and Sampar. Illustrations by Sampar. Translated by Solange Messier (Fitzhenry & Whiteside).Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices. edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale (Annick Press). Not My Girl. by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard (Annick Press). The Rat. by Elise Gravel (Tundra Books). Shapes in Math, Science and Nature: Squares, Triangles and Circles. by Catherine Sheldrick Ross. Illustrated by Bill Slavin (Kids Can Press). Take Shelter: At Home Around the World. by Nikki Tate and Dani Tate-Stratton (Orca Books). Tastes Like Music: 17 Quirks of the Brain and Body. by Maria Birmingham. Illustrated by Monika Melnychuk (Owl Kids). We All Count: A Book of Cree Numbers. by Julie Flett (Native Northwest).For more information about voting and submissions please contact the Information Book Award Chair, Kay Weisman at weismankay@gmail.com7) IBBY Canada (International Board on Books for Young People, Canadian section).Stop, Thief! illustrated by Pierre Pratt and written by Heather Tedavec (Kids Can Press, 2014) is the winner of the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award. Pierre was also nominated [again] by IBBY Canada for the prestigious ans Chrisitan Andersen Award. (www.ibby-canada.org/elizabeth-mrazik-cleaver-pratt/)-----Presented by Gail de Vos. Gail is an adjunct professor who teaches courses on Canadian children's literature, young adult literature, and commic books and graphic novels at the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) at the University of Alberta and is the author of nine books on storytelling and folklore. She is a professional storyteller and has taught the storytelling course at SLIS for over two decades.

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Reading in a Foreign Language (National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawaii) 17.2 (2005), 125–143.06–82Hinkel, Eli (Seattle U, USA), Hedging, inflating, and persuading in L2 academic writing. Applied Language Learning (Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and Presidio of Monterey, USA) 15.1 & 15.2 (2005), 29–53.06–83Hirvela, Alan (Ohio State U, USA; hirvela.1@osu.edu) & Yuerong Liu Sweetland, Two case studies of L2 writers' experiences across learning-directed portfolio contexts. Assessing Writing (Elsevier), 10.3 (2005), 192–213.06–84Holligan, Chris (U Paisley, UK), Fact and fiction: A case history of doctoral supervision. Educational Research (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) 47.3 (2005), 267–278.06–85Kaakinnen, Johanna K. & Jukka Hyona (U Turku, Finland), Perspective effects on expository text comprehension: Evidence from think-aloud protocols, eyetracking, and recall. Discourse Processes (Lawrence Erlbaum) 40.3 (2005), 239–257.06–86Kimball, Miles (Texas Technical U, USA), Database e-portfolio systems: A critical appraisal. Computers and Composition (Elsevier) 22.4 (2005), 434–458.06–87Krekeler, Christian (Konstanz U of Applied Sciences, Germany), Language for special academic purposes (LSAP) testing: The effect of background knowledge revisited. Language Testing (Hodder Arnold) 23.1 (2006), 99–130.06–88Lillis, Theresa (The Open U, UK) & Mary Jane Curry, Professional academic writing by multilingual scholars: Interactions with literacy brokers in the production of English-medium texts.Written Communication (Sage) 23.1 (2006), 3–35.06–89Martínez, Iliana A. (Universidad Nacional de Rio Cuarto, Argentina), Native and non-native writers' use of first person pronouns in the different sections of biology research articles in English. 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Introduction: Our current obsession with the lives of others “Biography—that is to say, our creative and non-fictional output devoted to recording and interpreting real lives—has enjoyed an extraordinary renaissance in recent years,” writes Nigel Hamilton in Biography: A Brief History (1). Ian Donaldson agrees that biography is back in fashion: “Once neglected within the academy and relegated to the dustier recesses of public bookstores, biography has made a notable return over recent years, emerging, somewhat surprisingly, as a new cultural phenomenon, and a new academic adventure” (23). For over a decade now, commentators having been making similar observations about our obsession with the intimacies of individual people’s lives. In a lecture in 1994, Justin Kaplan asserted the West was “a culture of biography” (qtd. in Salwak 1) and more recent research findings by John Feather and Hazel Woodbridge affirm that “the undiminished human curiosity about other peoples lives is clearly reflected in the popularity of autobiographies and biographies” (218). At least in relation to television, this assertion seems valid. In Australia, as in the USA and the UK, reality and other biographically based television shows have taken over from drama in both the numbers of shows produced and the viewers these shows attract, and these forms are also popular in Canada (see, for instance, Morreale on The Osbournes). In 2007, the program Biography celebrated its twentieth anniversary season to become one of the longest running documentary series on American television; so successful that in 1999 it was spun off into its own eponymous channel (Rak; Dempsey). Premiered in May 1996, Australian Story—which aims to utilise a “personal approach” to biographical storytelling—has won a significant viewership, critical acclaim and professional recognition (ABC). It can also be posited that the real home movies viewers submit to such programs as Australia’s Favourite Home Videos, and “chat” or “confessional” television are further reflections of a general mania for biographical detail (see Douglas), no matter how fragmented, sensationalized, or even inane and cruel. A recent example of the latter, the USA-produced The Moment of Truth, has contestants answering personal questions under polygraph examination and then again in front of an audience including close relatives and friends—the more “truthful” their answers (and often, the more humiliated and/or distressed contestants are willing to be), the more money they can win. Away from television, but offering further evidence of this interest are the growing readerships for personally oriented weblogs and networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook (Grossman), individual profiles and interviews in periodical publications, and the recently widely revived newspaper obituary column (Starck). Adult and community education organisations run short courses on researching and writing auto/biographical forms and, across Western countries, the family history/genealogy sections of many local, state, and national libraries have been upgraded to meet the increasing demand for these services. Academically, journals and e-mail discussion lists have been established on the topics of biography and autobiography, and North American, British, and Australian universities offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in life writing. The commonly aired wisdom is that published life writing in its many text-based forms (biography, autobiography, memoir, diaries, and collections of personal letters) is enjoying unprecedented popularity. It is our purpose to examine this proposition. Methodological problems There are a number of problems involved in investigating genre popularity, growth, and decline in publishing. Firstly, it is not easy to gain access to detailed statistics, which are usually only available within the industry. Secondly, it is difficult to ascertain how publishing statistics are gathered and what they report (Eliot). There is the question of whether bestselling booklists reflect actual book sales or are manipulated marketing tools (Miller), although the move from surveys of booksellers to electronic reporting at point of sale in new publishing lists such as BookScan will hopefully obviate this problem. Thirdly, some publishing lists categorise by subject and form, some by subject only, and some do not categorise at all. This means that in any analysis of these statistics, a decision has to be made whether to use the publishing list’s system or impose a different mode. If the publishing list is taken at face value, the question arises of whether to use categorisation by form or by subject. Fourthly, there is the bedeviling issue of terminology. Traditionally, there reigned a simple dualism in the terminology applied to forms of telling the true story of an actual life: biography and autobiography. Publishing lists that categorise their books, such as BookScan, have retained it. But with postmodern recognition of the presence of the biographer in a biography and of the presence of other subjects in an autobiography, the dichotomy proves false. There is the further problem of how to categorise memoirs, diaries, and letters. In the academic arena, the term “life writing” has emerged to describe the field as a whole. Within the genre of life writing, there are, however, still recognised sub-genres. Academic definitions vary, but generally a biography is understood to be a scholarly study of a subject who is not the writer; an autobiography is the story of a entire life written by its subject; while a memoir is a segment or particular focus of that life told, again, by its own subject. These terms are, however, often used interchangeably even by significant institutions such the USA Library of Congress, which utilises the term “biography” for all. Different commentators also use differing definitions. Hamilton uses the term “biography” to include all forms of life writing. Donaldson discusses how the term has been co-opted to include biographies of place such as Peter Ackroyd’s London: The Biography (2000) and of things such as Lizzie Collingham’s Curry: A Biography (2005). This reflects, of course, a writing/publishing world in which non-fiction stories of places, creatures, and even foodstuffs are called biographies, presumably in the belief that this will make them more saleable. The situation is further complicated by the emergence of hybrid publishing forms such as, for instance, the “memoir-with-recipes” or “food memoir” (Brien, Rutherford and Williamson). Are such books to be classified as autobiography or put in the “cookery/food & drink” category? We mention in passing the further confusion caused by novels with a subtitle of The Biography such as Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. The fifth methodological problem that needs to be mentioned is the increasing globalisation of the publishing industry, which raises questions about the validity of the majority of studies available (including those cited herein) which are nationally based. Whether book sales reflect what is actually read (and by whom), raises of course another set of questions altogether. Methodology In our exploration, we were fundamentally concerned with two questions. Is life writing as popular as claimed? And, if it is, is this a new phenomenon? To answer these questions, we examined a range of available sources. We began with the non-fiction bestseller lists in Publishers Weekly (a respected American trade magazine aimed at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents that claims to be international in scope) from their inception in 1912 to the present time. We hoped that this data could provide a longitudinal perspective. The term bestseller was coined by Publishers Weekly when it began publishing its lists in 1912; although the first list of popular American books actually appeared in The Bookman (New York) in 1895, based itself on lists appearing in London’s The Bookman since 1891 (Bassett and Walter 206). The Publishers Weekly lists are the best source of longitudinal information as the currently widely cited New York Times listings did not appear till 1942, with the Wall Street Journal a late entry into the field in 1994. We then examined a number of sources of more recent statistics. We looked at the bestseller lists from the USA-based Amazon.com online bookseller; recent research on bestsellers in Britain; and lists from Nielsen BookScan Australia, which claims to tally some 85% or more of books sold in Australia, wherever they are published. In addition to the reservations expressed above, caveats must be aired in relation to these sources. While Publishers Weekly claims to be an international publication, it largely reflects the North American publishing scene and especially that of the USA. Although available internationally, Amazon.com also has its own national sites—such as Amazon.co.uk—not considered here. It also caters to a “specific computer-literate, credit-able clientele” (Gutjahr: 219) and has an unashamedly commercial focus, within which all the information generated must be considered. In our analysis of the material studied, we will use “life writing” as a genre term. When it comes to analysis of the lists, we have broken down the genre of life writing into biography and autobiography, incorporating memoir, letters, and diaries under autobiography. This is consistent with the use of the terminology in BookScan. Although we have broken down the genre in this way, it is the overall picture with regard to life writing that is our concern. It is beyond the scope of this paper to offer a detailed analysis of whether, within life writing, further distinctions should be drawn. Publishers Weekly: 1912 to 2006 1912 saw the first list of the 10 bestselling non-fiction titles in Publishers Weekly. It featured two life writing texts, being headed by an autobiography, The Promised Land by Russian Jewish immigrant Mary Antin, and concluding with Albert Bigelow Paine’s six-volume biography, Mark Twain. The Publishers Weekly lists do not categorise non-fiction titles by either form or subject, so the classifications below are our own with memoir classified as autobiography. In a decade-by-decade tally of these listings, there were 3 biographies and 20 autobiographies in the lists between 1912 and 1919; 24 biographies and 21 autobiographies in the 1920s; 13 biographies and 40 autobiographies in the 1930s; 8 biographies and 46 biographies in the 1940s; 4 biographies and 14 autobiographies in the 1950s; 11 biographies and 13 autobiographies in the 1960s; 6 biographies and 11 autobiographies in the 1970s; 3 biographies and 19 autobiographies in the 1980s; 5 biographies and 17 autobiographies in the 1990s; and 2 biographies and 7 autobiographies from 2000 up until the end of 2006. See Appendix 1 for the relevant titles and authors. Breaking down the most recent figures for 1990–2006, we find a not radically different range of figures and trends across years in the contemporary environment. The validity of looking only at the top ten books sold in any year is, of course, questionable, as are all the issues regarding sources discussed above. But one thing is certain in terms of our inquiry. There is no upwards curve obvious here. If anything, the decade break-down suggests that sales are trending downwards. This is in keeping with the findings of Michael Korda, in his history of twentieth-century bestsellers. He suggests a consistent longitudinal picture across all genres: In every decade, from 1900 to the end of the twentieth century, people have been reliably attracted to the same kind of books […] Certain kinds of popular fiction always do well, as do diet books […] self-help books, celebrity memoirs, sensationalist scientific or religious speculation, stories about pets, medical advice (particularly on the subjects of sex, longevity, and child rearing), folksy wisdom and/or humour, and the American Civil War (xvii). Amazon.com since 2000 The USA-based Amazon.com online bookselling site provides listings of its own top 50 bestsellers since 2000, although only the top 14 bestsellers are recorded for 2001. As fiction and non-fiction are not separated out on these lists and no genre categories are specified, we have again made our own decisions about what books fall into the category of life writing. Generally, we erred on the side of inclusion. (See Appendix 2.) However, when it came to books dealing with political events, we excluded books dealing with specific aspects of political practice/policy. This meant excluding books on, for instance, George Bush’s so-called ‘war on terror,’ of which there were a number of bestsellers listed. In summary, these listings reveal that of the top 364 books sold by Amazon from 2000 to 2007, 46 (or some 12.6%) were, according to our judgment, either biographical or autobiographical texts. This is not far from the 10% of the 1912 Publishers Weekly listing, although, as above, the proportion of bestsellers that can be classified as life writing varied dramatically from year to year, with no discernible pattern of peaks and troughs. This proportion tallied to 4% auto/biographies in 2000, 14% in 2001, 10% in 2002, 18% in 2003 and 2004, 4% in 2005, 14% in 2006 and 20% in 2007. This could suggest a rising trend, although it does not offer any consistent trend data to suggest sales figures may either continue to grow, or fall again, in 2008 or afterwards. Looking at the particular texts in these lists (see Appendix 2) also suggests that there is no general trend in the popularity of life writing in relation to other genres. For instance, in these listings in Amazon.com, life writing texts only rarely figure in the top 10 books sold in any year. So rarely indeed, that from 2001 there were only five in this category. In 2001, John Adams by David McCullough was the best selling book of the year; in 2003, Hillary Clinton’s autobiographical Living History was 7th; in 2004, My Life by Bill Clinton reached number 1; in 2006, Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck: and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman was 9th; and in 2007, Ishmael Beah’s discredited A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier came in at 8th. Apart from McCulloch’s biography of Adams, all the above are autobiographical texts, while the focus on leading political figures is notable. Britain: Feather and Woodbridge With regard to the British situation, we did not have actual lists and relied on recent analysis. John Feather and Hazel Woodbridge find considerably higher levels for life writing in Britain than above with, from 1998 to 2005, 28% of British published non-fiction comprising autobiography, while 8% of hardback and 5% of paperback non-fiction was biography (2007). Furthermore, although Feather and Woodbridge agree with commentators that life writing is currently popular, they do not agree that this is a growth state, finding the popularity of life writing “essentially unchanged” since their previous study, which covered 1979 to the early 1990s (Feather and Reid). Australia: Nielsen BookScan 2006 and 2007 In the Australian publishing industry, where producing books remains an ‘expensive, risky endeavour which is increasingly market driven’ (Galligan 36) and ‘an inherently complex activity’ (Carter and Galligan 4), the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics figures reveal that the total numbers of books sold in Australia has remained relatively static over the past decade (130.6 million in the financial year 1995–96 and 128.8 million in 2003–04) (ABS). During this time, however, sales volumes of non-fiction publications have grown markedly, with a trend towards “non-fiction, mass market and predictable” books (Corporall 41) resulting in general non-fiction sales in 2003–2004 outselling general fiction by factors as high as ten depending on the format—hard- or paperback, and trade or mass market paperback (ABS 2005). However, while non-fiction has increased in popularity in Australia, the same does not seem to hold true for life writing. Here, in utilising data for the top 5,000 selling non-fiction books in both 2006 and 2007, we are relying on Nielsen BookScan’s categorisation of texts as either biography or autobiography. In 2006, no works of life writing made the top 10 books sold in Australia. In looking at the top 100 books sold for 2006, in some cases the subjects of these works vary markedly from those extracted from the Amazon.com listings. In Australia in 2006, life writing makes its first appearance at number 14 with convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby’s My Story. This is followed by another My Story at 25, this time by retired Australian army chief, Peter Cosgrove. Jonestown: The Power and Myth of Alan Jones comes in at 34 for the Australian broadcaster’s biographer Chris Masters; the biography, The Innocent Man by John Grisham at 38 and Li Cunxin’s autobiographical Mao’s Last Dancer at 45. Australian Susan Duncan’s memoir of coping with personal loss, Salvation Creek: An Unexpected Life makes 50; bestselling USA travel writer Bill Bryson’s autobiographical memoir of his childhood The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid 69; Mandela: The Authorised Portrait by Rosalind Coward, 79; and Joanne Lees’s memoir of dealing with her kidnapping, the murder of her partner and the justice system in Australia’s Northern Territory, No Turning Back, 89. These books reveal a market preference for autobiographical writing, and an almost even split between Australian and overseas subjects in 2006. 2007 similarly saw no life writing in the top 10. The books in the top 100 sales reveal a downward trend, with fewer titles making this band overall. In 2007, Terri Irwin’s memoir of life with her famous husband, wildlife warrior Steve Irwin, My Steve, came in at number 26; musician Andrew Johns’s memoir of mental illness, The Two of Me, at 37; Ayaan Hirst Ali’s autobiography Infidel at 39; John Grogan’s biography/memoir, Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog, at 42; Sally Collings’s biography of the inspirational young survivor Sophie Delezio, Sophie’s Journey, at 51; and Elizabeth Gilbert’s hybrid food, self-help and travel memoir, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything at 82. Mao’s Last Dancer, published the year before, remained in the top 100 in 2007 at 87. When moving to a consideration of the top 5,000 books sold in Australia in 2006, BookScan reveals only 62 books categorised as life writing in the top 1,000, and only 222 in the top 5,000 (with 34 titles between 1,000 and 1,999, 45 between 2,000 and 2,999, 48 between 3,000 and 3,999, and 33 between 4,000 and 5,000). 2007 shows a similar total of 235 life writing texts in the top 5,000 bestselling books (75 titles in the first 1,000, 27 between 1,000 and 1,999, 51 between 2,000 and 2,999, 39 between 3,000 and 3,999, and 43 between 4,000 and 5,000). In both years, 2006 and 2007, life writing thus not only constituted only some 4% of the bestselling 5,000 titles in Australia, it also showed only minimal change between these years and, therefore, no significant growth. Conclusions Our investigation using various instruments that claim to reflect levels of book sales reveals that Western readers’ willingness to purchase published life writing has not changed significantly over the past century. We find no evidence of either a short, or longer, term growth or boom in sales in such books. Instead, it appears that what has been widely heralded as a new golden age of life writing may well be more the result of an expanded understanding of what is included in the genre than an increased interest in it by either book readers or publishers. What recent years do appear to have seen, however, is a significantly increased interest by public commentators, critics, and academics in this genre of writing. We have also discovered that the issue of our current obsession with the lives of others tends to be discussed in academic as well as popular fora as if what applies to one sub-genre or production form applies to another: if biography is popular, then autobiography will also be, and vice versa. If reality television programming is attracting viewers, then readers will be flocking to life writing as well. Our investigation reveals that such propositions are questionable, and that there is significant research to be completed in mapping such audiences against each other. This work has also highlighted the difficulty of separating out the categories of written texts in publishing studies, firstly in terms of determining what falls within the category of life writing as distinct from other forms of non-fiction (the hybrid problem) and, secondly, in terms of separating out the categories within life writing. Although we have continued to use the terms biography and autobiography as sub-genres, we are aware that they are less useful as descriptors than they are often assumed to be. In order to obtain a more complete and accurate picture, publishing categories may need to be agreed upon, redefined and utilised across the publishing industry and within academia. This is of particular importance in the light of the suggestions (from total sales volumes) that the audiences for books are limited, and therefore the rise of one sub-genre may be directly responsible for the fall of another. Bair argues, for example, that in the 1980s and 1990s, the popularity of what she categorises as memoir had direct repercussions on the numbers of birth-to-death biographies that were commissioned, contracted, and published as “sales and marketing staffs conclude[d] that readers don’t want a full-scale life any more” (17). Finally, although we have highlighted the difficulty of using publishing statistics when there is no common understanding as to what such data is reporting, we hope this study shows that the utilisation of such material does add a depth to such enquiries, especially in interrogating the anecdotal evidence that is often quoted as data in publishing and other studies. Appendix 1 Publishers Weekly listings 1990–1999 1990 included two autobiographies, Bo Knows Bo by professional athlete Bo Jackson (with Dick Schaap) and Ronald Reagan’s An America Life: An Autobiography. In 1991, there were further examples of life writing with unimaginative titles, Me: Stories of My Life by Katherine Hepburn, Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography by Kitty Kelley, and Under Fire: An American Story by Oliver North with William Novak; as indeed there were again in 1992 with It Doesn’t Take a Hero: The Autobiography of Norman Schwarzkopf, Sam Walton: Made in America, the autobiography of the founder of Wal-Mart, Diana: Her True Story by Andrew Morton, Every Living Thing, yet another veterinary outpouring from James Herriot, and Truman by David McCullough. In 1993, radio shock-jock Howard Stern was successful with the autobiographical Private Parts, as was Betty Eadie with her detailed recounting of her alleged near-death experience, Embraced by the Light. Eadie’s book remained on the list in 1994 next to Don’t Stand too Close to a Naked Man, comedian Tim Allen’s autobiography. Flag-waving titles continue in 1995 with Colin Powell’s My American Journey, and Miss America, Howard Stern’s follow-up to Private Parts. 1996 saw two autobiographical works, basketball superstar Dennis Rodman’s Bad as I Wanna Be and figure-skater, Ekaterina Gordeeva’s (with EM Swift) My Sergei: A Love Story. In 1997, Diana: Her True Story returns to the top 10, joining Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes and prolific biographer Kitty Kelly’s The Royals, while in 1998, there is only the part-autobiography, part travel-writing A Pirate Looks at Fifty, by musician Jimmy Buffet. There is no biography or autobiography included in either the 1999 or 2000 top 10 lists in Publishers Weekly, nor in that for 2005. In 2001, David McCullough’s biography John Adams and Jack Welch’s business memoir Jack: Straight from the Gut featured. In 2002, Let’s Roll! Lisa Beamer’s tribute to her husband, one of the heroes of 9/11, written with Ken Abraham, joined Rudolph Giuliani’s autobiography, Leadership. 2003 saw Hillary Clinton’s autobiography Living History and Paul Burrell’s memoir of his time as Princess Diana’s butler, A Royal Duty, on the list. In 2004, it was Bill Clinton’s turn with My Life. In 2006, we find John Grisham’s true crime (arguably a biography), The Innocent Man, at the top, Grogan’s Marley and Me at number three, and the autobiographical The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama in fourth place. Appendix 2 Amazon.com listings since 2000 In 2000, there were only two auto/biographies in the top Amazon 50 bestsellers with Lance Armstrong’s It’s Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life about his battle with cancer at 20, and Dave Eggers’s self-consciously fictionalised memoir, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius at 32. In 2001, only the top 14 bestsellers were recorded. At number 1 is John Adams by David McCullough and, at 11, Jack: Straight from the Gut by USA golfer Jack Welch. In 2002, Leadership by Rudolph Giuliani was at 12; Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro at 29; Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper by Patricia Cornwell at 42; Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative by David Brock at 48; and Louis Gerstner’s autobiographical Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance: Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround at 50. In 2003, Living History by Hillary Clinton was 7th; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson 14th; Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How President Bill Clinton Endangered America’s Long-Term National Security by Robert Patterson 20th; Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer 32nd; Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life by Queen Noor of Jordan 33rd; Kate Remembered, Scott Berg’s biography of Katharine Hepburn, 37th; Who’s your Caddy?: Looping for the Great, Near Great and Reprobates of Golf by Rick Reilly 39th; The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship about a winning baseball team by David Halberstam 42nd; and Every Second Counts by Lance Armstrong 49th. In 2004, My Life by Bill Clinton was the best selling book of the year; American Soldier by General Tommy Franks was 16th; Kevin Phillips’s American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush 18th; Timothy Russert’s Big Russ and Me: Father and Son. Lessons of Life 20th; Tony Hendra’s Father Joe: The Man who Saved my Soul 23rd; Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton 27th; Cokie Roberts’s Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised our Nation 31st; Kitty Kelley’s The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty 42nd; and Chronicles, Volume 1 by Bob Dylan was 43rd. In 2005, auto/biographical texts were well down the list with only The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion at 45 and The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls at 49. In 2006, there was a resurgence of life writing with Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck: and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman at 9; Grisham’s The Innocent Man at 12; Bill Buford’s food memoir Heat: an Amateur’s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany at 23; more food writing with Julia Child’s My Life in France at 29; Immaculée Ilibagiza’s Left to Tell: Discovering God amidst the Rwandan Holocaust at 30; CNN anchor Anderson Cooper’s Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters and Survival at 43; and Isabella Hatkoff’s Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship (between a baby hippo and a giant tortoise) at 44. In 2007, Ishmael Beah’s discredited A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier came in at 8; Walter Isaacson’s Einstein: His Life and Universe 13; Ayaan Hirst Ali’s autobiography of her life in Muslim society, Infidel, 18; The Reagan Diaries 25; Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI 29; Mother Teresa: Come be my Light 36; Clapton: The Autobiography 40; Tina Brown’s The Diana Chronicles 45; Tony Dungy’s Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life 47; and Daniel Tammet’s Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant at 49. Acknowledgements A sincere thank you to Michael Webster at RMIT for assistance with access to Nielsen BookScan statistics, and to the reviewers of this article for their insightful comments. Any errors are, of course, our own. References Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC). “About Us.” Australian Story 2008. 1 June 2008. ‹http://www.abc.net.au/austory/aboutus.htm>. 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Dempsey, John “Biography Rewrite: A&E’s Signature Series Heads to Sib Net.” Variety 4 Jun. 2006. 1 June 2008 ‹http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117944601.html?categoryid=1238&cs=1>. Donaldson, Ian. “Matters of Life and Death: The Return of Biography.” Australian Book Review 286 (Nov. 2006): 23–29. Douglas, Kate. “‘Blurbing’ Biographical: Authorship and Autobiography.” Biography 24.4 (2001): 806–26. Eliot, Simon. “Very Necessary but not Sufficient: A Personal View of Quantitative Analysis in Book History.” Book History 5 (2002): 283–93. Feather, John, and Hazel Woodbridge. “Bestsellers in the British Book Industry.” Publishing Research Quarterly 23.3 (Sept. 2007): 210–23. Feather, JP, and M Reid. “Bestsellers and the British Book Industry.” Publishing Research Quarterly 11.1 (1995): 57–72. Galligan, Anne. “Living in the Marketplace: Publishing in the 1990s.” Publishing Studies 7 (1999): 36–44. Grossman, Lev. “Time’s Person of the Year: You.” Time 13 Dec. 2006. Online edition. 1 June 2008 ‹http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1569514%2C00.html>. Gutjahr, Paul C. “No Longer Left Behind: Amazon.com, Reader Response, and the Changing Fortunes of the Christian Novel in America.” Book History 5 (2002): 209–36. Hamilton, Nigel. Biography: A Brief History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2007. Kaplan, Justin. “A Culture of Biography.” The Literary Biography: Problems and Solutions. Ed. Dale Salwak. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996. 1–11. Korda, Michael. Making the List: A Cultural History of the American Bestseller 1900–1999. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2001. Miller, Laura J. “The Bestseller List as Marketing Tool and Historical Fiction.” Book History 3 (2000): 286–304. Morreale, Joanne. “Revisiting The Osbournes: The Hybrid Reality-Sitcom.” Journal of Film and Video 55.1 (Spring 2003): 3–15. Rak, Julie. “Bio-Power: CBC Television’s Life & Times and A&E Network’s Biography on A&E.” LifeWriting 1.2 (2005): 1–18. Starck, Nigel. “Capturing Life—Not Death: A Case For Burying The Posthumous Parallax.” Text: The Journal of the Australian Association of Writing Programs 5.2 (2001). 1 June 2008 ‹http://www.textjournal.com.au/oct01/starck.htm>.

After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, all Muslim countries, especially Arab countries, still continue to experience various political, economic and social problems. These problems are handled in various ways by artists and writers. The art of the novel offers the author the opportunity to express the problems in a literary style. Jalal Barjas, who is an aeronautical engineer and editor and journalist in various magazines, is one of the authors who use this art. Barjas wrote a novel called Notebooks of the Bookseller to point out social problems. The work, which won the 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, is important in terms of shedding light on the social collapse and the psychological problems behind it. In this study, the work named Notebooks of the Bookseller was examined technically in order to determine to what extent the rules of the art of the novel were used, and thematically in order to determine which subjects were discussed. Thus, it was tried to determine to what extent the author used the rules of the art of the novel and which subjects he dealt with. The study is important in terms of revealing the problems experienced by Arab societies today and determining the development of the art of the novel in Arabic literature and the level it has reached. The novel depicts Jordanian society in particular, and Arab societies in general, through the main character named Abraham al-Varrāq, who spent his life away from people reading books because he was suspicious of people, and later became schizophrenic and acts like the hero of the novels he reads about his crimes. In the novel, possible events are also told in addition to a real event such as the fact that the woman whom Abraham al-Varrāq loves turns out to be the wife of his father. For this reason, it is seen that the genre of the work is a social novel. Although there are sections from real life in the novel, the fact that the main character is schizophrenic gave the author the opportunity to present imaginary events and real events in an intricate way. In the novel, first-person narrative was chosen. It is seen that the name of the novel was chosen to keep the reader's interest alive. The year 2015 was chosen for the objective time of the novel and it was continued until 1947 by using the return/expansion technique. Thus, the events between 1947 and 2015, when modernization was experienced intensively, could be described in a literary style. Concrete and closed spaces such as Amman, Madaba, Aqaba, Jabal al-Jofah, Jordan, bookstore kiosk, orphanage, abandoned house and bank are used in the novel. Although the excessive use of words reminding sexuality is considered as a deficiency, it is seen that the author, with the effect of being a poet, constructs his sentences fluently and uses the literary language skillfully in his novel. The chapters end in a way that arouses the reader's curiosity, and until the end of the novel, questions such as why Jādullah committed suicide and who is Abraham's lover are not answered, thus keeping the reader's interest alive. The fact that Abraham, the main character in the novel, is distrustful and asocial to people, lacks freedom of thought; the fact that Leila was brought up in a orphanage, moral collapse; the fact that Nārdā made the wrong decisions in her life, that the people are stuck between tradition and modernity, and that the bookstore kiosk has turned into a drugstore are also symbols of the change in society. The fact that the main character Abraham al-Varrāq is a personality who combines good and evil in himself, steals to do good and commits murder to get the rights of the victims, shows that social problems force people who are good at their core to commit crimes. Looking at the chain of events of the novel, it is seen that themes such as the impact of incorrect education on child psychology, moral collapse, not taking care of orphaned children, bad managers, the public being in a difficult situation and the harm of social media are covered. In the novel, subjects such as death, emigration, loss, suicide, difficulties in life, globalization, poverty, inflation, corruption and grudges between social statuses are mentioned between the lines.

The present study entitled “Water as a Symbol of Regenerative Force: A Study of Margaret Laurence’s Select Novels” is proposes to investigate the water symbolism and water-related words in the novels of Margaret Laurence. She has been used many symbols, images, metaphors in her writings. This research paper focuses only on water symbolism and water-related words. She employed words such as, river, water, sea coast, pools, beaches, ocean, rain, and seashore. The study concentrates only five novels of Laurence namely, This Side Jordan, The Stone Angel, A Jest of God, The Fire-Dwellers, and The Diviners. The main purpose of the study is to prove that how Laurence uses water symbolism and water-related words in her fictional work, to emphasize the regeneration and survival in the aspects of human life. Further, it investigates how the water functions as a symbol of regenerative force in human life, is to be examined in the research paper with reference to the characters of Margaret Laurence novels.