Opportunities and challenges in the analysis of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN)

The development of the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) has no doubt contributed to prompting a renewed interest in children’s narratives. This carefully controlled test of narrative abilities elicits a rich set of measures spanning multiple linguistic domains and their interaction, including lexis, morphosyntax, discourse-pragmatics, as well as various aspects of narrative structure, communicative competence, and language use (such as code-switching). It is particularly well suited to the study of discourse cohesion, referential adequacy and informativeness, and of course to the study of narrative structure and richness, and the acquisition of a more formal or literary register. In this commentary article, I reflect on the five empirical papers included in the special issue. I focus on methodological challenges for the analysis of narratives and identify outstanding questions.

Portrait of liberal chaos: RT’s antagonistic strategic narration about the Netherlands

Hostile political actors can use antagonistic strategic narration as a means of marring the image of targeted states in the international arena. The current article presents a content analysis of narratives about the Netherlands that were published by Russian state-sponsored media outlet RT between 2018 and 2020, capturing a period of heightened tension between the states. The authors distil and describe six overarching narratives used to portray the Netherlands as a state of liberal chaos. They analyse them using a framework of strategies underpinning Russian state-sponsored media’s narration, and interpret their strategic functions within the context of recent Dutch–Russian relations. Finally, they provide directions for future research, such as expanding on nuances within Russian media’s negative portrayals of different states or exploring the possible psychological responses this narration may elicit in the Dutch domestic audience.

A Construção de Saberes no Trabalho do Tatuador: um Olhar sob a Perspectiva da Abordagem Estética

The present study analyzes how and what knowledge constitutes the daily work of tattooing in light of the organizational aesthetic approach. For this purpose, the authors explore the theme of knowledge at work by considering the knowledge produced in the daily life of this practice, analyzing the interaction between different knowings, artifacts, and practices. The study used techniques of participant observation and narrative interviews, with data analysis through thematic analysis of narratives. The practice of tattooing consists of six types of knowledge: (a) creation and/or reproduction of the design; (b) doings and sayings related to each practice; (c) manipulation of artifacts; (d) technique; (e) body movement; (f) activation of the human senses. Shedding light on the knowledge of the practice of tattooing brings to the focus of organizational studies the importance of the aesthetic dimension, proposing an alternative for the logical-rational understanding of the organizational context.

Changing Geography, Retaining the Mentality: Social and Economic Integration of Post-Soviet Immigrants in Hungary and Austria

The article explores the relationship between social and economic aspects of the integration of Soviet immigrants in Hungary and Austria. Relying on the analysis of narratives collected through digital ethnography, the article describes paths of integration of former Soviet citizens in Hungary and Austria. The article reveals that Russian-speaking communities usually provide the first instance of social integration. They remain a major channel for economic integration via entrepreneurship for many immigrants. Along with these findings, the article develops a concept of a culture-based immigrant community – as opposed to an ethnic one – contributing in this way also to the literature on migrations.

Kolonizacja stawów hydr – narracje w serii Heroes of Might and Magic

This article is an analysis of narratives in a series of video games called Heroes of Might and Magic. Author discusses issue of colonial/imperial thinking connected with strategy genre, evolution of fantasy tropes and developement of plot structure. On this basis he tries to outline the limitations of storytelling which result from series formula.

Ethnopoetics and Narrative Analysis

We acknowledge and concur with Catherine Kohler Riessman’s insistence on the necessity of sustained and formal analysis of narratives. We thus distance ourselves from qualitative researchers who aim to celebrate personal narratives rather than undertaking that analytic work. In doing so, we also draw on the work of Dell Hymes, whose approach to ethnopoetics informs our own. The discussion is developed and illustrated with materials from Natasha Carver’s research with informants of Somali heritage that display the relevance of ethnopoetic transcription and analysis.

The use of Twitter by people with young-onset dementia: A qualitative analysis of narratives and identity formation in the age of social media

A diagnosis of dementia in midlife can be challenging, causing losses or changes in a person’s identity. Narrative provides a means of reconstructing identity and can be communicated on social media. There has been initial evidence on the value of Twitter for people with dementia, but researchers have not yet directly engaged with users’ perspectives. We employed a narrative model of identity to examine why people with dementia use Twitter and what challenges they face. Interviews were conducted with 11 younger people with dementia and analysed thematically. Participants used Twitter to counter a loss of identity through community membership and by regaining a sense of purpose. They sought to redefine dementia identities by challenging stigma and campaigning for social change. The character limit of tweets facilitated narrative through which participants preserved their identities. These findings suggest that Twitter could be an important source of post-diagnostic support for people with young-onset dementia. However, there are some risks as Twitter was sometimes a hostile environment for individuals who did not present in a ‘typical’ manner, or faced technical difficulties because of their symptoms. In the future, platform developers could work with people with dementia to make Twitter more accessible for this group.