Narrative Constitution of Identities and Profiles of Multinational Corporations of China: A Case Study

Under the context of the ‘Trade War,’ Chinese multinational corporations are experiencing difficulty in overseas markets due to retarded globalization. Therefore, they have become increasingly aware of the significance of presenting themselves to foreign markets through ‘telling good stories.’ Narratives in these contexts are reframed from Chinese into English corporate profiles of these multinational corporations, so as to present the corporate identities of these corporations as more acceptable to target foreign stakeholders. This paper purports to investigate how profiles of Chinese corporations in the domestic market are reframed for overseas markets. Tthis paper thus creates a case study of English corporate identities of the corporate profiles of the CRRC (China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation), the world’s largest supplier of rail transit equipment. A combination of content analysis and thematic analysis is used in the data analysis. Narrative reframing strategies from source to the target texts are examined and analyzed by content analysis. Thematic analysis is employed for identifying the corporate identities constructed through this data.

The Importance of Who We Are

This chapter explains why personal identities are important and why feminist ethicists care about them. The concept of a personal identity is analyzed as a social construction. The chapter points out that identities are always multiple and relational, and often unchosen. This is followed by a discussion of the narrative constitution of identities and what that implies. Then comes an explanation of how gender damages identities and what can be done about it by means of counterstories. The chapter ends with a meditation on why it’s so difficult for counterstories to get the social uptake they need if they are to repair the identity.

Ritual, narrative and time: Bridging between Durkheim and Ricoeur

Paul Ricoeur’s theory of the narrative constitution of time and Emile Durkheim’s conception of the ritual construction of time seem, at least on first examination, incommensurable. While their important and influential theories of the social constitution of time are not easily harmonised, it is possible to construct several bridges between the two, such that they may, at least, be brought into conversation with one another (a dialogue Ricoeur himself seemed keen to avoid). While the two theories may be mutually exclusive, if we look at the relationship between ritual and narrative, we find unexpected points of possible convergence where bridges may be built. We find that ritual and narrative are themselves not entirely distinct from one another and even sometimes difficult to disentangle. Furthermore, narratives of the past require the calendar (itself owing much to its ritual heritage) to provide a structure for, and a way of marking, the flow of time. Conversely, ritual practices often act as carriers of narrative, assisting the transmission of narratives from generation to generation.

Narrative Constitution of Friendship

We argue that friendship is constituted in the practice of narration, not merely identified through psychological or sociological criteria. We show that whether two people have, as Aristotle argues, ‘lived together’ in ‘mutually acknowledged goodwill’ can be determined only through a narrative reconstruction of a shared past. We demonstrate this with a close reading of Thomas Bernhard’sWittgenstein’s Nephew: A Friendship(1982). We argue that this book provides not only an illustration but also an enactment of the practice of friendship as the urge to redeem—and thus to instantiate—Aristoteliansuzên(‘living together’) by means of its telling.