Narratives and Memory Work by Nick Rowe | Analysis

Narratives and Memory Work by Nick Rowe | Analysis Aengus Donald A 1000 word review of one of the recommended chapters or articles. Students will choose a chapter or article from one of the prescribed texts, and write a review of the content, as understood by the student in terms of: the writer’s intent, the psychodramatic theory, and its application to practise. Response: Review of Chapter 4: Narratives and Memory Work, by Nick Rowe (2007). Playing the Other: Dramatizing Personal Narratives in Playback Theatre Rowe explores the relationship between memory, narrative and the self and reminds the reader that the audience’s stories are what make up the curiosities that are enacted out in front of them. Rowe personally opens up by sharing a story about his father’s death. This vulnerable space that Rowe sits in allows for resonance and connection with the reader, whilst informing them that that the story is the basis of discussion in this chapter. His actual experience of physically writing the story down years after his father’s death is shared with the reader as a very balanced moment in his life. Drawing on research in the fields of psychology, philosophy and psychotherapy, Rowe intends to compare and contrast different aspects of memory, narrative and the self to show the breadth, depth and scope of the subjects. Rowe proposes that it is misleading to conceptualize playback theatre as a mirror of the essence of a protagonist’s subjective narrative. This is because it denies ‘the relational, negotiated and context-rich’ (Rowe) aspects of Playback theatre as well as negating the humanness of the performers, protagonist, and conductors. Actors may have different responses to the narrative than the protagonist. Actors may have incongruent obstacles of their own. Being present to the essence of the storyline and then responding on the stage set by the director, protagonist and audience members can occur on any range or scale of response. Rowe proposes to utilize a model of a ‘cumulative process of mediation’ in which each time a narrative is retold, the protagonist or client creates and refines the expression of the phenomenological and subjective content of the narrative. MacIntyre proposes that the most efficacious source of â€Å"intelligibility† for human beings is received through narrative, which he believes is the human identity’s organizing principle. If this were the case according to Rowe, every known thing would be spoken into existence, which I relate to the opening creation passage of the bible. I feel that if this was the case, we would be our own gods and all words would be the words of gods. Rowe would sooner agree not with MacIntyre’s notion, but with Griemas’ idea that â€Å"Narrative structures do not exist per se, but are a mere moment in the generation of signification†. Griemas’ school of thought leans more toward meaning making, than MacIntyre’s idea of instantaneously announcing manifestations of life experience. Barclay presents the idea that ‘autobiographical remembering is largely an improvisational act’, played out by ‘protoselves’. This makes me feel that there is simultaneously room for both meaning making and calling experience into existence, and perhaps one can’t exist without the other. Barclay’s work also makes me wonder if we completely embody these ‘protoselves’ when we are being truly spontaneous. Lyotard presents that the idea of self is not one of individual singularity in a world of increasing billions of other individuals, but more so of each human as a nodal point in an growing pool of specific communication circuits. Lyotard sees the self as ‘first and foremost, a practical project of everyday life’ (Holstein and Gubrium, 1995) and it is never a completed object. In Playback theatre people are invited to perform their stories and witness the enactment. This halters the teller’s self-creation process when the control of the protagonist’s enactment has been handed over to the actors. The conductors questioning in Playback allows the events to emerge. Rowe does not believe that this is â€Å"rewriting the self† (Freeman 1993). Vocal language is a primary technique of narrative in playback. Utilizing and encouraging other expressive methods such as â€Å"acoustic, visual, spatial and theatrical images can significantly extend the teller’s memory work† (Rowe). In the section â€Å"Poetry drugs the dragon of disbelief†, Rowe writes that subsequent re-telling of a narrative emphasises an aspect of the story that leads to the question: â€Å"Can we ever trust memory?† (Rowe). Re-enactments through Playback theatre may contribute to the fictionalization of actually false aspects of the memory; in Rowe’s case this is the Red Dress, which turned out to be pink. â€Å"On the borderline of life and death, the colour must be red – pink will just not do† (Rowe). Donald Spence writes of the therapist being engaged as rather â€Å"a pattern maker than a pattern finder in an artistic struggle† (Spence 1982). Enabling people to sit in acceptance of their narrative and themes explored through language and movement is the task of the therapist. I personally resonate a lot with Spence’s notion of making patterns as opposed to finding them. It is much more creative than reductionist in it’s approach. Vocal language has its limitations. As people’s traumas can lie buried within tissues and sinew (Rowe), they may need to be expressed through movement and dance. This may assist to bring traumas to vocalisation, or can be experienced or witnessed as pre-verbal expression. Rowe warns therapists to be as aware as possible of potential body, personal and cultural memories that may arise in sensitive group work. Rowe agrees with Kristeva in that a text can’t possibly be ‘a hermitically sealed unit existing independently on other texts’. This ‘intertextuality’ emphasises the significance of relationships between all aspects of inter-personal and intra-personal narrative. A field of open possibility allows for relationships between different texts and aspects of self to be connected through a paradox of self-definition on the one hand and re-negotiating relationships with both the audience and conductor on the other hand. This point of vulnerability allows the teller to be moulded and evaluated by the group or society at large. The stories that are enacted can have a transformative effect on the audience as well as the teller, creating a group felt shift. Annette Kuhn suggests that public and private memory show to be less separable than has been commonly believed. In this idea, what affects the protagonist is more than likely to affect the audience. Phillips presents the idea that ‘the only good translation is the one that invites retranslation; the one that doesn’t want to be verified so much as altered (Philips 2002).’ This philosophy reminds me of Nietzsche’s attempts at self criticisms. If a translation is hailed as the One True translation, narratives will never be able to be dynamic or interact without eventually going stagnant, but will exist as, as Rowe puts it, ‘a new, but never final, version’. ‘Perhaps call it play-forward theatre?’ asks Rowe, expanding on his theme of an ever-evolving reality of expressive experience.

Brian Friels Translations Essay -- Friel Translations Essays

Brian Friel's "Translations" 'Translations', by Brian Friel, presents us with an idyllic rural community turned on its head as the result of the recording and translation of place names into English; an action which is at first sight purely administrative. In Act 1 of the play, Friel brings together the inhabitants of this quaint Irish village in what can only be described as a gathering of minds - minds which study the classics, yet minds which study dead languages. In the same way, while this community is rich in culture and togetherness, it is also trapped in what is later described as a "contour which no longer matches the landscape ofà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦fact". Thus, in expressing his ambivalence, Friel presents the reader with a question - is Baile Beag an intellectual Irish Arcadia? There is no denying that Baile Beag is an intellectual community. At the beginning of the play, Jimmy Jack Cassie, one of the central characters, is in the process of reading Joyce's 'Ulysses'. He is capable of reading the text fluently and understands it, despite it being in another language (although he later reveals that, while he is fluent in Latin and Greek, he knows only one word of English). He even relates his own life to that of characters in the book, posing the question, "if you had the picking between them [Athene, Artemis & Helen of Troy], which would you take?". Furthermore, he even goes so far as to associate the smoke described within the pages of the text to the turf smoke which he believes has turned his hair flaxen. Hugh, the teacher in charge of the running of the hedge-school, is also an intellectual. While one could argue that he displays pomposity (his long, drawn out sentences result in him never rememberi... ...g is not what one would describe as a predominantly intellectual community. Furthermore, while Baile Beag is a place rich in community and in culture, a sense of threat and danger undercuts this. For, you see, Friel presents us with a society that teeters on a knife-edge; a people that live in constant fear of rural collapse and the horrendous poverty which would inevitably follow. Exacerbating the relentless grip which this fear has on people's lives is the prospect of the collapse of the Irish language at the hands of the national school, and the potential cultural and linguistic erosion as the result of the remapping of Ireland by imperial forces (although it is unlikely that the people of Baile Beag were aware of this erosion until it occurred). Therefore, while Baile Beag may be a relatively intellectual community, it is in no way an idyllic Arcadia.

Theories And Development Of Public Administration

Like any other field of social sciences, the development of Public Administration as a study and also, as a practice is a response to evolving social contexts. As it is an eclectic field of study, it has adapted its key concepts and theories predominant in that period of time from the other fields of study. Thus, one can look at its development by identifying key concepts of economic, sociological and other studies that have contributed to how it is today.According to Brillantes and Fernandez (2008), the development of Public Administration can be classified as traditional/classical Public Administration and modern Public Administration (2). The traditional/classical Public Administration mainly leans on the models of Organization theory. These models are classified into three, namely, the classical, the neoclassical or human relations and the integration theory or modern theory (Cabo 36). The classical theory became the conceptual foundations of the traditional public administration (Cabo 37). There are 3 schools of thoughts under this theory.One is the Scientific Management which searches for the â€Å"one best way† for an organization to work efficiently, that is, increased productivity with minimal waste and costs (Cabo 37). In doing so, the model suggests that there is a scientific way to achieve production goals. It then postulates that to increase workers’ productivity, â€Å"the best way† is that there should be a competitive management, a clear division of duties between management and labor, and a scientific method and technique in selecting, training, and motivating employees (Cabo 37).With this, time and motion studies became a prevalent method in looking for the â€Å"one best way† (Cabo 37). However, although these studies have indeed improved productivity, it was heavily criticised later on because it failed to account the individuals’ common sense and judgement in the organization (Laegaard and Bindslev 15). Ne vertheless, the model is still useful in evaluating technical processes both in the private and public sector to this day (Laegaard and Bindslev 15). Meanwhile, asScientific Management focuses on increasing productivity, the second school of thought, the Administrative Management, focuses more on the efficiency of management of organization (Cabo 44). It contends that a general theory of administration which can be both applied in the private and public sector is highly possible and that studies must seek to discover and understand the underlying principles that govern it (Fayol cited in Cabo 40, Brillantes Jr. and Fernandez 3). According to Henry Fayol, there are 14 principles of administration.These are: division of labor, authority, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, subordination of individual interest to general interest, remuneration of employee, centralization, scalar chain of hierarchy, order, equity, stability of tenure of personnel, initiative, and esprit de corps (Fayol cited in Cabo 40-41). Meanwhile, Gulick and Urlick (1937) further enhanced Fayol’s ideas into a comprehensive theory of administration (Brillantes Jr. and Fernandez 3) and contended that there are 7 administrative functions the management should perform (1937 cited in Cabo 42).These are planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, and budgeting or POSDCORB (Gulick and Urlick 1937 cited in Cabo 42). In general, Administrative Management offered practical ways to organization and management (Cabo 43). They are, however, criticised because of the lack of systematic methods (Cabo 43) and over-simplification of administrative conditions (Simon cited in Laegaard and Binslev 16) which resulted to contradicting principles (Simon cited in Cabo 43).Lastly, the third school of thought, the bureaucratic model, is different from the other two as it includes social and historical perspective in its approach to organization (Laegaard and Binslev 16). Its main contention is that for an organization to function smoothly, bureaucracy must consist of neutral professional public employees and that public employees must act as if the superior’s interests are his own (Weber cited in Laegaard and Binslev 16). It identifies 5 characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy, namely, hierarchy, division of labor, formally written rules and procedures, impersonality, and neutrality (Weber cited in Cabo 44).The classical theories, in general, defined many of the key concepts of the Organization theory which greatly enriched the traditional Public Administration. However, they are criticised as having very little regard to the worker or employee within the organization as persons (Cabo 44). The worker is seen as economically-driven (Cabo 44) and therefore the social-psychological aspects, which may also contribute to his productivity, is not taken into account. Thus, in response, the neoclassical model of Organization theory was proposed.Rather t han focusing on the mechanical aspect, the theory focuses more on human relations and sees organizations as social systems composed of interpersonal relationships (Cabo 47). It looks into the how people interact with one another in the organization, how they behave, their feelings, motivations, and aspirations (Cabo 47). One of the key ideas of the theory is the result of the Hawthorne experiments wherein it was found out that informal work groups, rather than management demands, have greater influence on employee productivity (Cabo 48).Chester Bernard (1938) then explained that the informal groups are significant in an organization because it fosters social integration by providing for the social-psychological needs of workers such as pride, prestige, and loyalty (Cabo 49). In general, the theory enriched the study of Public Administration as it makes human perspective an equally important organizational concern (Cabo 49). There are, however, criticisms that arise on the concepts o f the theory. Although it has offered explanations on organization performance, it has failed to explain adequately other aspects of organization behaviour and performance (Cabo 49).More so, the human relations approach is prone to management manipulation of informal groups just to get workers do what management dictates (Cabo 49). Thus, in order to deal with the weaknesses of both the classical and neo-classical theories, the integrative or modern organization theory was proposed. The theory tries to understand and explain the organization in a more holistic method, integrating the classical approach with the social-psychological perspective of human relations (Cabo 50).With this, the theory then proceeds to look into aspects of organization where management and workers meet their goals. Four streams of thought fall into the modern organization theory, namely, the decision-making theory, industrial humanism, open-systems theory, and the contingency approach. With decision-making th eory, bounded rationality is being established contrary to the complete rationality of the classical model (Cabo 51). This is because, in every organization, decisions made are bounded with organizational and human limitations (Simon cited in Cabo 50-51).Rather than getting everything they want, people tend meet half-way and make satisficing decisions to achieve their goals (Simon cited in Cabo 51). Meanwhile, with Industrial Humanism, it is contended that the formal organization structure itself facilitates adverse effects on the workers’ performance (Cabo 52). Thus, social and psychological concepts like human needs and motivations should be considered in the formulation of key aspects of organization such as in job designs, organization structure, and management functions, among others (Cabo 51).The Open systems theory, for its part, sees the organization as an open system that is continuously interacting with the environment and is affected by it (Cabo 53). Thus, for orga nizations to survive and grow, it must be dynamic and adaptable to the changes in the environment. Therefore, inputs such as human and material resources are seen as essential in its operations and success (Cabo 51). Lastly, the contingency approach in the modern theory basically suggests that there is no single technique or method that is applicable to all situations (Cabo 55).Managers or administrators must be able to determine the need at hand and make use of the existing management and administrative ideas. Public Administration as a study, did not however, stop at looking institutions and its processes at organizational level. It went beyond so as take more of the social responsibility expected of Public Administration, that is, for the welfare of the public it serves. The events that followed after Word War II marks the beginning of this new development stage called the modern Public Administration.As post-war effects, coupled with internal political-economic factions, were fe lt, many of the third world countries had been struggling to jump start economic development (Cabo 64). Thus, the study and practice of Public Administration, particularly the traditional Public Administration was introduced to third world by Western powers. As the field was seen as an agent of social change (Brillantes Jr. and Fernandez, 5) and served as a guide for development, it took a new identity and is now called Development Administration.Development Administration is a sub-phase of modern Public Administration wherein traditional Public Administration is used to describe the societal problems and craft solutions in the third world context (Cabo 64). The goal was to â€Å"steer countries along the path of economic and social progress† by strengthening the bureaucracy to ensure efficient and effective implementation of policies and programs (Cabo 64). According to Gant (1979), Development Administration characteristics can be best explained by purpose, loyalties, and a ttitude (Cabo 64).By purpose, DA seeks to stimulate and facilitate national development, implement policies and programs determined by the people and introduce change and innovative structures and processes that will help achieve development goals (Cabo 64). By loyalty, the bureaucracy establishes pledges to the people through their elected representatives and by attitude, DA is positive, persuasive, innovative, and outward looking (Cabo 64). Although the theory seeks to help third world countries gear towards development, it has somehow failed to achieve its goals as the model yielded varied results (Cabo 64).Few of the main reasons that have caused the mixed results are the culture factor and the existing social, economic, and political contexts in a particular society (Cabo 64). Development Administration leanings towards Scientific and Administrative Management (Cabo 63) failed to capture the external factors brought about by differences in social contexts. Meanwhile, the New Pu blic Administration, another sub-phase of modern Public Administration, first emerged in the United States as a response to the observed widening of gap between prosperity and status of well-being among the people (Cabo 66).The main goal of the New Public Administration was to achieve social equity (Cabo 66). In order to do so, the government must not take a value-free stance as being promoted by the traditional Public Administration (Cabo 66). Rather, it must protect and promote the welfare of the disadvantaged groups (Cabo 64). It is from this theory that the concept of Reinventing Government, a newer sub-phase, is built upon.With the rapid changes in many of the societies nowadays, the advent of modernization and the expanding field of technology, the previous theories of Public Administration are seen as anachronistic (Cabo 73). Unlike the New Public Administration that sees the government as the driver of social change, Reinventing Government sees the government as a facilitato r to bring about change through collective efforts (Cabo 74). Coined by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler (1993), the theory seeks to improve government performance by changing the ways and means of the government in achieving its goals (Cabo 75).It contends that the government must act in entrepreneurial ways (Cabo 74), that is, to maximize productivity and effectiveness at lower costs. The theory builds up on the assumption that government is a crucial factor in collective undertakings to solve social problems and that civilized society cannot function effectively without it (Cabo 74). It is also the task of the government to uphold equity or equal opportunity as it is critical to the nation’s success (Cabo 74). Reinventing government has 10 principles laid down by Osborne and Gaebler.These are: catalytic government: steering rather than rowing, community-owned government: empowering rather than serving, competitive government: injecting competition to service delivery, mission -driven government: transforming rule-driven organization, results-oriented government: funding outcomes not inputs, customer-driven government: meeting the needs of the customers, not the bureaucracy, enterprising government: earning rather than spending, anticipatory government: prevention rather than cure, decentralized government: from hierarchy to participation and teamwork, and market-oriented government: leveraging change through the market (Osborne and Gaebler 1993, cited in Cabo 74-79). Currently, one of the new streams of Reinventing government is the E-government, wherein access to public information and processing of documents have been made available through the internet thereby making the government more reachable to the people and transactions which involves them faster and more convenient (Fang 1).Also, there is a proposition from Barzelay (2001) that the New Public Management which is into reinventing government, must turn towards policy approach for it to be able t o enhance both study and practice of the field. With the policy approach, analysis may then be undertaken weighing consequences of combinations of government rules and routines in a particular context (Barzelay 158) to determine what works and what does not. Reinventing government, however, takes high risks if implemented. It entails radical change and doing so may then entail costs and risks which are too much to take by political leaders and public managers alike (Halachimi 1995 cited in Cabo 80).In addition, getting the consensus of stakeholders who will be affected by the changes may be difficult (Cabo 80). The theory is also being criticized for looking at the people as customers or end users of policies rather than as citizens or participants in the policy-making process (Brillantes Jr. and Fernandez 7). Nevertheless, the field has evidences of success in Australia, the United Kingdom, and in New Zealand (Barzelay 162). Thus, it only signifies that reinventing government is po ssible. As being discussed above, the development of Public Administration has generally been a response to the context from which they are crafted upon. They are born out of the need to be able to solve pressing issues and concerns in a particular period.However, even though society has evolved to something very different from where the concepts and theories were formulated, the thoughts and ideas are still evident in the practice of Public Administration today. A good example is evident in the State of the Nation Address of the President of the Philippines, Benigno Simeon Aquino III. In his SONA, concepts of Organizational classical theory, such as efficient and effective implementation of programs and projects based on scientific studies and the principles of administration such as discipline, order, and initiative, among others are evident. Application of the Neo-classical theory is evident in the program implementations of Community-Driven Development (CDD) and Bottom-top Budge t Approach (BUB).With CDD and BUB, it is the people and the local government that identify projects for their community. Meanwhile, New Public Administration concepts are reflected through the delivery of social services in health and education such as Philhealth coverage and more classrooms for school children. But in general, the government’s overall goal is to reinvent itself under the slogan tungo sa matuwid na daan. Although there has been much debate on the road the government has taken to change, it still is an effort to reinvent to gain back the trust of the people and to make its services more efficient and effective. In all these processes, it can be said that government plays a significant role in Public Administration.As more and more models or theories are made available, the government, in coordination with stakeholders, must carefully determine what model/s to use to achieve desired change in the society. It is important that stakeholders should be knowledgeabl e of the strengths and weaknesses of each model and carefully evaluate the context and processes from which it will be applied so as not to over target or fall less to avoid erroneous operationalization of solutions. Nevertheless, as society continuous to evolve, academics and practitioners of Public Administration alike must continue to develop models that are timely and relevant in order to keep the discipline alive for the welfare of the people.

Annotated Bibliography on Mosquite-Borne Diseases - 634 Words

Annotated Bibliography Hunter, A., Denman-Vitale, S., Garzon, L., Allen, P. J., Schumann, L. (2007). Global infections: recognition, management, and prevention. The Nurse Practitioner, 32 (2), 34-41. The authors discuss many known infections from all over the world including Malaria and West Nile. They mentioned the differences between these mosquito-borne diseases such as who the primary victims that it affect, which time of day these mosquitoes come out to attack, which season it will most likely occur and many more. Also, the ways in which these diseases can be managed and prevented is present in the reading. This article provides phenomenal information and evidence that really contrast the two deadly diseases carried by mosquitoes. Iwamoto, M., Jernigan, D. B., Guasch, A., Trepka, M. J., Blackmore, C. G., Hellinger, W. C., . . . Petersen, L. R. (2003). Transmission of west nile virus from an organ donor to four transplant recipients. The New England Journal of Medicine, 348 (22), 2196-2203. Medical professionals conducted an investigation to prove that four recipients obtained the West Nile virus through organ transplants from the same donor who also received various blood donations from donors with viremia. The donor`s organs was diligently examined and no visible problems were found until the recipients developed flu-like symptoms in which was