Almost the same stories: narrative patterns in EU treaty referendums

ABSTRACT

The article analyses narratives that favoured or opposed European integration in three referendum debates held during the constitutional process of the 2000s: in France and the Netherlands in 2005 (Constitutional Treaty) as well as the first vote in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty in 2008. In all debates examined, speakers used similar narratives of European integration. While most narrative patterns have transnational character, however, they are also remarkably country-specific. They depend on the specific cultural context and the social positions of the speakers articulating them.     

Workplace resources to improve both employee well-being and performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of employees in gaining and maintaining competitive advantage. The happy worker–productive worker thesis suggests that workers who experience high levels of well-being also perform well and vice versa; however, organisations need to know how to ensure such happy and productive workers. The present review and meta-analysis identifies workplace resources at the individual, the group, the leader, and the organisational levels that are related to both employee well-being and organisational performance. We examine which types of resources are most important in predicting both employee well-being and performance. We identified 84 quantitative studies published in print and online from 2003 to November 2015. Resources at either of the four levels were related to both employee well-being and performance. We found no significant differences in employee well-being and organisational performance between the four levels of workplace resources, suggesting that interventions may focus on any of these levels. Cross-sectional studies showed stronger relationships with well-being and performance than longitudinal studies. Studies using objective performance ratings provided weaker relationships between resources and performance than self-rated and leader/third-party-rated studies.     

一幅丰盈纯美的图画——论新时期以来回族文学中的意象营构

“水”、“月”、“死亡”是新时期以来回族文学作品中常见的象征意象。它们不仅渗透着华夏民族共有的审美情感,而且从本质上寄寓着回族人民独特的民族审美体验。     

从纯文学到大文学

艺术和文学分别借用不同的情感符号体系,来展示人类在不同世代的情感本真存在,当代大众文化语境之下文学形态发生了变化,但是文学依然新鲜活泼地存在着。纯文学作为一种历史性的文化现象在当代逐渐被颠覆和消解,并不能说明文学行将消亡。从纯文学到大文学正是人类学意义上文学精神的自我回归,中国未来的大文学必然会在民族集体记忆的基础上接受外来文化以及不同世代生活经验的刺激,发生微妙的变化。但无论怎么变化、演绎,也无论它是出自精英文学作家之手,还是出自草根民众之手,只要它自由地、自然地、本能地、本真地敞开了斯时斯地的情感(性情),那么,它都是既有中国品位又有时代气象,且与其他民族文学相互情意沟通无碍的中国大文学——多元共存的人类大文学生命实体中必要的生命元素之一。     

建构与拆解:新中国“四十年”文学的历史叙述

新中国以来的四十年文学,自始至终都对历史叙述保持着浓厚的兴趣。此间各个时期的文学对历史的叙述都不是在纯粹审美修辞的维面上展开的,它们分别肩负了不同的意识形态启蒙使命。"十七年文学"为巩固现实政权的合理/合法性提供了形象上的依据。新时期文学接续"十七年文学"的传统,以笔为枪,控诉和反思刚过去不久的民族劫乱,探索国家发展的前途。质疑过去文学赋予历史话语的崇高意义,新历史小说以解构的立场与姿态,通过具体的艺术实践,颠覆了历史话语的神话。新历史小说以消解"十七年文学"权威历史叙述为初衷,然而后来的种种迹象表明,它正沦为一种新的历史叙述霸权。     

叙述策略与历史重构——评《拉格泰姆时代》

当代美国作家多克托罗的后现代历史小说《拉格泰姆时代》,主要叙述策略是＂文本的历史性＂和＂历史的文本性＂,兼有其他后现代主义的叙事技巧。小说把虚构和事实杂糅,虚拟与历史并置,用语言结构来建构现实,不仅挑战历史话语的特权地位,也更为逼真地再现了历史真相。文本重述历史,对资本主义社会的政治、经济与文化等做了多方位的批评和嘲讽,面对当下,旨在未来,是一种成功的历史重构。     

南洋都市语境下的新加坡华文文学语言

新加坡华文文学语言的城市特征鲜明。多种语言的兼收并蓄,使新加坡华文文学语言洋溢着现代工商城市的气息,体现了南洋国际化都市海纳百川的特点。多样化的语言风格,使作品既有市井色彩,又有典雅凝炼的风韵。新加坡华文文学语言展现了当代新加坡东西方两种文化的冲突、传统观念与现代性思维的冲突,表现了华人的思想情感以及审美追求。     

The Best and Worst Times of Life: Narratives and Assessments of Subjective Well-Being by Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) in the Eastern Cape,South Africa

The Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) measure of subjective well-being (SWB) aims to reduce the problems of cultural bias and relativity to external standards by allowing people to define the endpoints or ‘anchors’ of the measurement scale. In medical terminology anamnestic denotes ‘based on memory’. The ACSA uses subjects’ memories of the best and worst periods in their lives to define the anchors of the scale. They then assess their current quality of life relative to these personal anchors. The South African pilot study tested the match between self-assessment of SWB with ACSA and the conventional single-item measures of life satisfaction and happiness used in the South African Quality of Life Trends Study and analysed the narratives of the best and worst times of life. The quota sample of 46 consisted of 26 residents of Makana district in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, and 20 patients undergoing treatment in the local TB hospital. Mean SWB ratings with all three measures of life satisfaction, happiness and ACSA were between 5 and 6 on a 0–10-point scale. Ratings on all three scales were positively correlated. However, on ACSA the TB patients rated their current SWB 1.84 points lower than the community respondents, suggesting a greater sensitivity of this measure. It was observed that the starting points of the life stories produced by respondents to define the anchor periods for ACSA were related to their current assessment of SWB. A typology was developed that combined the starting point of the life stories with current SWB. The majority of community respondents matched the ‘Achiever’ type who scored positively on ACSA (i.e., above the mid-point of the scale) and whose life stories started with the worst period of their lives and proceeded to the best period. The TB patients were the only respondents to represent the ‘Survivor’ type whose morale had recovered after misfortune in life. ‘Survivors’ started their narratives with the best period in their lives, then moved to the worst (often health-related) one, and gave positive ACSA ratings. Based on the qualitative analysis of narratives, it is concluded that ACSA is a sensitive measurement instrument and therefore particularly useful for monitoring the effects of treatments and social interventions in longitudinal studies. However, further research is required to verify its cross-cultural validity.

Individual and institutional determinants of multidimensional poverty: A European comparison

In this article we evaluate to what extent between-country differences in the probability of being ‘multidimensional’ poor can be explained by a range of ‘domain-specific’ indicators of welfare regime arrangements. To this end, a so-called micro-macro model is estimated, testing the ‘independent’ effect of institutions, as opposed to alternative explanations such as between-country differences in population composition and economic affluence. Although we conclude that institutional arrangements do influence the risk of multidimensional poverty in the expected direction, we also find that bringing the ‘economy’ back into the analyses has a non-trivial impact. Our results point at several avenues for further discussion and research. First, although the more elaborate welfare regimes generally do a better job in preventing poverty, the level of transfers is not always ‘proportional’ to the general standard of living in these countries. Second, we only find partial confirmation for the often cited ‘negative’ impact of labour market flexibility and the related equality-jobs trade-off. While stricter employment regulations do reduce the poverty risk (be it only after controlling for economic affluence), flexibility in terms of the availability of fixed-term labour seems to be preferable to unemployment, even if at the individual level, labour market flexibility increases the likelihood of being poor quite severely.

1950年代王贝实主义论争与苏俄文学传括由昀《文艺报》

1950年代国内就现实主义问题展开激烈的论争,《文艺报》积极介入论争,以其绝对的权威性通过译介苏联关于社会主义现实主义的理论文章,引导50年代国内文艺把社会主义现实主义奉为我国整个文学艺术创作和批评的最高准则。1950年代《文艺报》通过传播苏俄文学文论对现实主义论争产生重要影响,探讨《文艺报》在传播苏俄文学文论从而影响国内现实主义论争进程方面所起到的作用及其经验和教训,告诉我们要重视期刊传播对中国当代文学乃至整个20世纪中国文学发展的重大影响。