Fictional Representations: On Difference, Choice, and Risk

2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew C. Sparkes
Keyword(s):  
Creative Nonfiction ◽  
Creative Fiction ◽  
Sociology Of Sport ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Being There ◽  
Ethnographic Fiction ◽  
Fictional Representations

This article is intended to stimulate debate regarding recent calls for fictional representations to be used within the sociology of sport. Based on the notion of “being there,” it differentiates between ethnographic fiction and creative fiction. Examples of the former are provided, and their grounding in the tradition of creative nonfiction is established. Moves toward the use of creative fiction are then considered in relation to the willingness of authors to invent people, places, and events in the service of producing an illuminative and evocative story. The issue of purpose is highlighted and various reasons why researchers might opt to craft an ethnographic fiction or creative fiction are discussed. Next, some risks associated with choosing fictional forms of representation are considered. Finally, the issue of passing judgment on new writing practices is briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Afrasian Entanglements and Generic Ambiguities in Sultan Somjee’s Bead Bai

Matatu ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 188-207
Author(s):  
Delphine Munos
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
North America ◽  
Creative Nonfiction ◽  
East Africa ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Historical Novel ◽  
African Women ◽  
Community Living ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ethnographic Fiction

Abstract This article looks at Sultan Somjee’s Bead Bai (2012) which focuses on Sakina, a member of the Satpanth Ismaili community living in mid-twentieth century Kenya. Based on nine years of research and interviews with Khoja women who now reside in Western Europe and North America, Bead Bai is generally described as a “historical novel” or an “ethnographic fiction,” yet it also can be thought of as pertaining to the genre of what Brett Smith et al. (2015) call “ethnographic creative nonfiction.” I discuss the ways in which the ‘genre-bending’ aspects of Bead Bai participate in retracing the little-known history of Afrasian entanglements for Asian African women who sorted out, arranged and looked after ethnic beads during colonial times in East Africa. More specifically, I will suggest that, by toying with the boundary between fiction and ethnography, Somjee opens new gendered avenues for reinserting the category of the imaginary at the heart of Afrasian entanglements.

The sense of presence in virtual environments:

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Schubert
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Coding Theory ◽  
Model Building ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Spatial Presence ◽  
Component Structure ◽  
Sense Of Presence ◽  
Being There ◽  
Measure Sense

Abstract. The sense of presence is the feeling of being there in a virtual environment. A three-component self report scale to measure sense of presence is described, the components being sense of spatial presence, involvement, and realness. This three-component structure was developed in a survey study with players of 3D games (N = 246) and replicated in a second survey study (N = 296); studies using the scale for measuring the effects of interaction on presence provide evidence for validity. The findings are explained by the Potential Action Coding Theory of presence, which assumes that presence develops from mental model building and suppression of the real environment.

The Effects of a Caffeine Placebo and Experimenter Expectation on Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, Well-Being, and Cognitive Performance

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Walach ◽  
Stefan Schmidt ◽  
Yvonne-Michelle Bihr ◽  
Susanne Wiesch
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Heart Rate ◽  
Cognitive Task ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Being There ◽  
To Receive

We studied the effect of experimenter expectations and different instructions in a balanced placebo design. 157 subjects were randomized into a 2 × 4 factorial design. Two experimenters were led to expect placebos either to produce physiological effects or not (pro- vs. antiplacebo). All subjects except a control group received a caffeine placebo. They were either made to expect coffee, no coffee, or were in a double-blind condition. Dependent measures were blood pressure, heart rate, well-being, and a cognitive task. There was one main effect on the instruction factor (p = 0.03) with the group “told no caffeine” reporting significantly better well-being. There was one main effect on the experimenter factor with subjects instructed by experimenter “proplacebo” having higher systolic blood pressure (p = 0.008). There was one interaction with subjects instructed by experimenter “proplacebo” to receive coffee doing worse in the cognitive task than the rest. Subjects instructed by experimenter “antiplacebo” were significantly less likely to believe the experimental instruction, and that mostly if they had been instructed to receive coffee. Contrary to the literature we could not show an effect of instruction, but there was an effect of experimenters. It is likely, however, that these experimenter effects were not due to experimental manipulations, but to the difference in personalities.

Strategic Role of Zakat in Multidimensional Quality of Life in Sijunjung, Indonesia

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-72
Author(s):  
Herlin Hamimi ◽  
Abdul Ghafar Ismail ◽  
Muhammad Hasbi Zaenal
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
Absolute Poverty ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Status ◽  
Being There ◽  
The Impact

Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam which has a function of faith, social and economic functions. Muslims who can pay zakat are required to give at least 2.5 per cent of their wealth. The problem of poverty prevalent in disadvantaged regions because of the difficulty of access to information and communication led to a gap that is so high in wealth and resources. The instrument of zakat provides a paradigm in the achievement of equitable wealth distribution and healthy circulation. Zakat potentially offers a better life and improves the quality of human being. There is a human quality improvement not only in economic terms but also in spiritual terms such as improving religiousity. This study aims to examine the role of zakat to alleviate humanitarian issues in disadvantaged regions such as Sijunjung, one of zakat beneficiaries and impoverished areas in Indonesia. The researcher attempted a Cibest method to capture the impact of zakat beneficiaries before and after becoming a member of Zakat Community Development (ZCD) Program in material and spiritual value. The overall analysis shows that zakat has a positive impact on disadvantaged regions development and enhance the quality of life of the community. There is an improvement in the average of mustahik household incomes after becoming a member of ZCD Program. Cibest model demonstrates that material, spiritual, and absolute poverty index decreased by 10, 5, and 6 per cent. Meanwhile, the welfare index is increased by 21 per cent. These findings have significant implications for developing the quality of life in disadvantaged regions in Sijunjung. Therefore, zakat is one of the instruments to change the status of disadvantaged areas to be equivalent to other areas.

Being There: The Spatiality of ‘Other World’ Fantasy Fiction

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-251
Author(s):  
Anthony Pavlik
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Real World ◽  
The Real ◽  
Fantasy Fiction ◽  
Children And Young Adults ◽  
Being There ◽  
Other World

Fantasy other worlds are often seen as alternative, wholly ‘other’ locations that operate as critiques of the ‘real’ world, or provide spaces where child protagonists can take advantage of the otherness they encounter in their own process of growth. Rather than consider fantasy fiction's presentations of ‘other’ worlds in this way, this article proposes reading them as potential thirdspaces of performance and activity that are neutral rather than confrontational such that, in fantasy other world fiction for children and young adults, the putative ‘other’ world may not, in fact, be ‘other’ at all.

Pre-modern Scriptures in Postmodern Times

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 293-315
Author(s):  
Diana Walsh Pasulka
Keyword(s):  
Martin Heidegger ◽  
Religious Thought ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Writing Practices ◽  
Localized Analysis ◽  
Crisis Of Modernity ◽  
Paul Griffiths

A contemporary movement in Christian religious thought advocates for the recovery of pre-modern exegetical practices. Wesley Kort, Paul Griffiths, and Catherine Pickstock are among several theorists who support a return to pre-modern reading and writing practices as an answer to the crisis of modernity. In the context of scripture studies, the works of Kort, Griffiths, and Pickstock can be understood as examples of analyses that focus on the performative elements of scripture. Their stress on memorization, recitation, and reading reflect the influence of studies of the performative function of scriptures by Wilfred Cantwell Smith and William Graham. Kort, Griffiths, and Pickstock take this line of argument even further, by arguing that is it the very loss of scripture as performance that has inaugurated a loss of the sacred in modernity. This development thus tackles the philosophical issues at stake between secularism and theology and moves beyond the localized analysis of the meaning of specific scriptures. The following analysis places this development in an historical and philosophical context by revealing the theoretical precedents that each scholar draws upon, specifically the later writings of Martin Heidegger.

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