Elephant or Elebird?: dialogic formation of truth and subjectivity in Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hatches the Egg & Horton Hears a Who!

The voice of the other seems to become more than just a marginal voice in Dr. Seuss’s Horton stories. Throughout these two narratives the character of this big elephant constantly reinforces the marginal voice of the other through a dialogic relationship. Horton the elephant cannot and will not stand a ruling voice. He persistently searches for the other. He is big and he does big things for small things. His acts of compassion and solicitude can best be explained through Mikhail Bakhtin’s views on dialogism and language. The aim of this essay is to analyse the mentioned stories in the light of Bakhtin’s theories on discourse and subjectivity. All through both of these books in children’s literature, readers can detect the dialogic formation of truth and subjectivity as Horton experiences the clash of marginal with dominant. Margin crosses the borders of the centre and therein lies the rub.     

The autistic dialogic style: a case of Asperger's syndrome

This paper explores the idea of possible proto-experiences of the prenatal child in the context of Bion's model of container/contained. The physical configuration of the embryo/foetus contained in the maternal uterus represents the starting point for an enquiry into the unborn child's possible experiences of its state of being contained in a container. The paper takes into consideration the sensory dimensions of auditory, tactile and kinaesthetic levels of awareness of the prenatal child in relation, respectively, to the maternal voice and the uterine environment. The author's hypothesis is that concrete prenatal experiences of containment may have their mental counterpart in the development of a proto-mental container and memory, the existence of which can be observed in the newborn infant. It is also suggested that prenatal proto-experiences of containment may prepare the child for further postnatal realisations of the pre-conception of containment and represent the experiential basis for the encounter with the breast. Observations of newborn babies in an obstetric ward, as well as the observation of a prematurely born child, seem to confirm the idea that the intrauterine experience of container/contained plays a role in the child's prenatal development. The meaning of prenatal thumb-sucking is explored in terms of the model of container/contained at a part-object level. An observation of the play of a three-year-old child offers material for further thought about the meaning and function of the introjected configuration of container/contained for the development of a sense of identity and symbolic thinking. The clinical case of an autistic child who survived a threatened miscarriage shows how the emotional containment in psychotherapy allowed the formerly inaccessible nameless dread to re-emerge and be represented and shared.     

Activity settings as the unit of analysis: A theoretical basis for community intervention and development

Theory, methods, and action develop within context, one of which is the intellectual climate of an era. Community psychology is directly and indirectly interactive with many intellectual currents, such as postmodernism, semiotics, hermeneutics, and dialogism. These ideas are discussed as they impact on community psychology, with an emphasis on the reemergence of meaning as a central condition of psychology and community. Meaning is of key importance to the unifying concept in the transactional theoretical model which is presented. How this model might serve as a conceptual framework for an asset approach to community intervention and development is discussed. Increasingly, it is recognized that the development of theory to guide community research and action is necessary to advance intervention and to realize the potential of community psychology. It is argued that community psychology is positioned by concepts and practice squarely at the point of emerging thought, and can make fuondational contributions to general social science. The next article in this special section illustrates concepts of this model in an early education program and the remaining article illustrates the influence of ecocultural factors.     

The Engagement of French Protestantism in Solidarism

It is conventional to think of modernity as being characterised by the irremediable separation of philosophy and theology, of reason and faith. Failing to reconsider the idea of such a divorce, post-modernity has pushed this postulate to its very limits by attempting to abolish all types of normativity whether on the grounds of reason or any other basis. Against these prevailing conceptions, we argue that there exist, within philosophy and theology, processes of differentiation as well as original combinations. To illustrate the possibility of mutually enriching exchanges between the philosophical and the theological ethical traditions we will call upon the historical example of solidarism. This will enable us to show that the two traditions are not so heterogeneous as may be first thought by those who underestimate the importance of identifying the conditions, both pragmatic and ideological, that govern practical in situation ethical judgements.     

Self, other and dialogical space in autistic disorders

The authors propose to re-evaluate Tustin's thesis using both the extensive clinical material of a child with an autistic disorder [PDD], and current research on infant development. Beebe's concept of 'interaction structure' that could be inferred from the fi fth month of life using face-to-face research data is used for postulating a dialogic space that would be generated inside such structure, allowing for defi nition of self and other in a relationship. If such space is collapsed, the other would be a threat of annihilation for the self, thus it should be avoided or merged with, which could explain the systematic avoidance of the not-me in autistic states. The authors stress that these ideas are just one alternate model, among several, that seems to be able to explain the patient's deviant development.     

Modelling change in self-narratives and embodied experience: A multicase study and autoethnography

The article documents a multicase study of the researcher’s own clinical work with four clients who each presented with embodied expressions of distress. The researcher practised within a ‘narrative-dialogical’ framework and set out to build theories of therapeutic change. However, a parallel thesis emerged during the project: an autoethnographic account in which the researcher’s uses of supervision, personal therapy, dreams and life events capture data on the ways in which the therapist’s theories of change are modelled in the therapeutic space—with varying degrees of confidence and success. Sessions were audio-recorded and coded for qualitative markers indicating the emergence of novel self-narratives. A reflexive narrative running throughout the work highlights the superordinate role of reflexivity in theory development. Therapeutic change was typified by an evolving internalised map of self and world, with corresponding change in embodied experience. The article highlights techniques deployed by the therapist in highlighting and building upon moments of innovation with the therapeutic process. As an analysis of one therapist’s practice and the experiences of their clients, the study generates theories for ongoing exploration and study. The continuous evolution of change concepts reflects the theory-building work of clinicians in their everyday practice. The study highlights the use of self as research instrument and offers a candid and intimate example of how practitioner research might be structured and delivered.     

Jungian dialogism and the problem of depth

Notions of dialogical inquiry and of the dialogical self have become increasingly influential in contemporary psychology in response to the limitations of the traditional view of monologically encapsulated and radically disengaged consciousness. Conceptions of self and inquiry as intrinsically embedded in and constituted by our shared life with others seem to do better justice to the richly interconnected character of contemporary life. At the same time, our highly interconnected global world has also tended to foster a flattening of cultural and inter‐cultural horizons that undermines dialogical engagement in any deeply meaningful sense. What is needed is to enrich current conceptions of dialogue with an understanding of experiential and cultural depth. This paper seeks an understanding of the depth dimensions of dialogue through an engagement of dialogical self theory with Jungian dialogical thought. Critical to this engagement is to appreciate the expressive potential of Jungian dialogism beyond Jung's theoretical claims about dialogue.     

Tortoise or hare? Supporting the chronotope preference of employees with fluctuating chronic illness symptoms

Objective: Our aim is to understand how to facilitate the job retention of employees with chronic illness. We focus on multiple sclerosis (MS) as a criterion chronic illness.

Design: An opportunity sample of 20 individuals of working age (13 female; 7 male) were recruited who had been in paid employment for over 28 months with a concurrent diagnosis of MS. Participants took part in one of three focus groups with a topic guide comprising keywords: work, coping, performance, support, future, expectations, sharing and symptoms. Data were analysed using dialogical analysis.

Main outcome measures: As a qualitative study, no outcome measure was used. However, the specific focus of interest was to search for differential patterns of ‘timespace’ – chronotope – that people with chronic illness utilise to manage their condition in the workplace.

Results: Participants oriented to two distinct chronotope types: unsustainable epic (characterised by condensed time) and temporary idyll (characterized by condensed space). Perceived managerial discretion was identified as possibly influencing participants’ chronotope preference.

Conclusion: Identifying chronotope preference has practical implications for health psychologists and related professionals who provide and advise on support to facilitate people with chronic illness to thrive in the workplace.     

A sociocultural psychology of repeated mobility: dialogical challenges / Una psicología sociocultural de la movilidad repetida: desafíos dialógicos

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a sociocultural psychology of the lifecourse to examine the extreme case of families living in repeated international mobility. In this case, mobility is motivated by work, which leads to repeated relocation of housing and occupational arrangements across countries. Based on fieldwork, we highlight three challenges of repeated mobility and discuss their implications within sociocultural psychology.