Digital Commons Network^™

Fatherhood And Fatherland In Chimamanda Adichie's "Purple Hibiscus"., Audrey D. Peters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purple Hibiscus, a novel by third-generation Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie, appears at first glance to be a simple work of adolescent fiction, a bildungsroman in which a pair of siblings navigate the typical challenges of incipient adulthood: social ostracism, an abusive parent, emerging desire. However, the novel's setting-a revolutionary-era Nigeria-is clearly intended to evoke post-Biafra Nigeria, itself the setting of Adichie's other major work, Half of a Yellow Sun. This setting takes Purple Hibiscus beyond the scope of most modern adolescent fiction, creating a complex allegory in which the emergence of self and struggle for identity of the …

Empowering Imagined Communities: Social Network Sites In A Chinese English As A Foreign Language Classroom, James Andrew Kelley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Little work has yet to explore the potential for the use of social network sites (SNSs) in the English as a Second Language/English as a Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) classroom, but recent trends in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) research suggest that SNSs may be a powerful context for language learning: offering students access to online communities of practice and /or imagined communities (as interpreted by Norton et al.); increased control of co-constructed/negotiated identities; and opportunities for empowering positions in authentic intercultural exchanges. This dissertation reports on a largely exploratory, empirical study of how the use of an …

Seeking A Spiritual Home For Women : A Comparative Study Of Chen Ran's And Amy Tan's Fictions., Jing He 1979-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With increasing cross-cultural infiltrations and accelerated interflows among people of all nationalities in this globalized world, the focus of comparative literature has experienced a shift from traditional Eurocentric cannons to a broader space incorporating literary works from marginalized cultures in its exploration of both particularities and commonalities. This dissertation aims to address the loss and reconstruction of women's self-identities as reflected in the fictions of contemporary Chinese woman writer Chen Ran and Chinese American woman writer Amy Tan. Drawing ideas from identity theories and postmodern feminist theories, the author compares the major motifs, rhetorical devices and writing strategies of the …

The Content And Critical Metaphor Analysis Of Illustrated Print Advertisements In China., Chun Jiang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation takes Chinese advertisements as the research subjects to see in what way a quantifiable large number of advertisements with its metaphorical nature and instrumental mission can reflect social cultural change, in specifics, ideology and identity change of China in the last thirty years by combining four methods of research: content analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, Conceptual Metaphor Analysis and Pictorial Metaphor Analysis. The dissertation goes through the sign or ad interpretation process of linguistic, semiotic and critical analysis of 300 sample illustrated print advertisements collected from popular and award-winning illustrated print advertisements in Chinese media in the three periods …

Filmmaker, Lawyer, Indian Chief: The Negotiation Of Identity In An Indigenous Film Festival, William Lempert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since colonial contact, indigenous peoples have been predominantly represented by community outsiders. As a result, native peoples have rarely had a primary, or even collaborative role, in the production of these representations. However, in the last two decades, there has been an unprecedented proliferation of indigenous created films and the festivals that feature them. The Denver Indigenous Arts and Film Festival is an annual festival that exclusively showcases films made by and with indigenous peoples. The festival’s 2009 theme of “Telling Our Stories” emphasized cultural control of representation and the transmission of traditional knowledge.

In this thesis, I show that …

The Theory And Practice Of Leader And Leadership Development: A Multi-Level Perspective, Jacob P. Hahn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The understanding of leadership and how it is developed continues to evolve (Day & Harrison, 2007) and while some essential components of effective leadership have been identified, they have not been forged into a comprehensive framework for development (Avolio, 2005). This paper aims to create a theory of leader and leadership development that can aid individuals in understanding who they are as a leader. Of central importance to this paper is the presentation of the Leader and Leadership Identity Development Model, which provides a framework centered on the development of individual leader and leadership identities at personal, interpersonal, and collective …

Deconstructing Collective Identities And Violence: Analytical Perspectives From Indonesia, Brandon Scott Sternquist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to establish a more applied, analytical approach to analyses of collective identity and violence while providing insights into the dynamics of the regions of Indonesia considered. By focusing on two regions of Indonesia - Aceh and Kalimantan - which are populated by distinct peoples and have experienced violence in contemporary times, this study contributes to the expanding literature on the social dynamics of identity and violence. To ensure a more practical approach within the study, concepts and frameworks which have contributed to discussions of the nature of identity and acts of violence are utilized. …

Secrets In Plain Sight: Institutional Covert Discrimination, Jacquelynn Suzette Mcdaniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While dominant national P-20 narratives circulate a discourse of the near achievement of racial equity post Brown v. Board of Education, there remains a large gap between the experiences of people of color and the official record of their inclusion and access. Organizational self-analysis of racial disparities in education often attribute undeniable discrimination to the micro-level performances of individuals; claiming micro-aggressions, lack of training, political/personal conflict, or ignorance. When these reasons cannot fully explain gross inequity; organizations turn to society's socio-economic disparities and mirrored racial realities within the country as instructive on the inevitable realities of racism within schools.

A …

Authenticating Người Mỹ Gốc Việt: Vietnamese Americans And The Struggle For Identity, Jennifer Huynh Thi Anh Morrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a critical investigation of the politics of identity among the U.S. diasporic Vietnamese community, in particular, the discourse of authenticity that has been prevalent in the community and its (in)adequacy as a means of displacing racialization and othering as a minoritized community. Using a critical phenomenological approach, the study consisted of interviews with 14 Vietnamese subjects currently living in the U.S. whose family heritage(s) are traceable, in part or in whole, to Vietnam and/or who are racially marked as bearers of Vietnamese culture. A thematic analysis of the interviewees' personal stories uncovered three ideological challenges to authenticating …

Feminine Identity Confined: The Archaeology Of Japanese Women At Amache, A Wwii Internment Camp, Dana Ogo Shew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1942, approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were evacuated from the West Coast to ten different internment camps in the interior of the United States. One of these camps was the Granada Relocation Center, otherwise known as Amache, located in southeastern Colorado. Through the analysis of archaeological material, archival documents, and oral histories, this thesis explores the experiences of Japanese American women interned at Amache. Feminine identity was greatly changed and redefined during confinement. These changes in feminine identity are examined in the public and private arenas of daily life within confinement. The construction of new and altered individual …