FICTION OF THE SELF: A GLANCE AT NANCY HUSTON’S MARCAS DE NASCENÇA

This paper analyzes two works of the canadian writer Nancy Huston: Marcas de nascença and A espécie fabuladora. The main idea is to support the reading of the former work based on the reflections raised by the latter, especially regarding the aspect concerning issues such as the Meaning and the (re) invention of the self. The relevance of these concepts will be effective in an immersion in the universe of the four main characters of the novel Marcas de nascença: Sun, Randall, Sadie and Kristina. The paper focuses on seeking the essence of Meaning in the life of each one of these characters, always considering two vital and non-discernible ​​aspects: time and space in each of them. Therefore, literature and culture concepts will be considered such as the concept of Americanness as well as the Americanization, Identity, Fiction and Recognition. Thus, this assay is divided into two parts. The first one envisions the idea matter expressed by Huston in A espécie fabuladora - the ceaseless quest for Meaning culminating in identity shaping – in order to seek understanding from this point of view the occurrence of certain cultural phenomena of which some characters from Marcas de nascença are an expression. The second part observes each of the four main characters and strengthens the suggested initial idea (that the book's characters are constituent parts of a behavioral matrix vital to human existence), then filling the gaps of the two themes developed: the birthmarks transmitted throughout four generations and how these marks are recorded over fifty-six years of history. 

MEMORIES AND TRAJECTORIES: IMPLICATIONS IN THE IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION OF THE PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE

Teachers, as professionals, carry out an essential role in the process of the social change. For this purpose, the process of teachers’ formation are deserving highlighted in the research field of Applied Linguistics, aiming to enhance the work of language professionals. In this term, the current paper seeks to investigate the previous knowledge of the students of Letters Course at Unioeste, subjects of this study, about teaching career and professor’s identity constitution.  Simultaneously, it is discussed some implications between the educational trajectory and these students’ Professional choice, considering that it is found in the initial stage of this formative process. The adopted methodology consists of a qualitative approach from memorials, seeking to stand out the conceptions and representations of those subjects about constitution of the teacher. Among some characteristics that stand out in the narratives regarding teacher identity, are the complexity of teaching, like the profession, as well as the diverse teaching practices and 'transgressive'.

THE IMPLICATION OF PLAY AND FANTASY IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MEANING OF CHILDREN’S ENUNCIATION

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of issues related to the meanings of children's enunciation, considering particularly the role of play and fantasy. To achieve this, we have based ourselves on theoretical and conceptual contributions from the Theory of Enunciative Operations in association with cognitive psychology, through its position towards the construction process of the enunciations and their meaning (CULIOLI, 1990; DE VOGÜÉ, FRANCKEL, PAILLARD, 2011) – and towards interactions characterized as routinized, integrated into the concept of format (BRUNER, 1983), still stressing the relationship between play, fantasy and language in early childhood (WINNICOTT, 1982). Throughout this study we presented the analysis of the speech of a male child, GUS, registered between 24 and 35 months of age, provided by published audiovisual data, recorded and transcribed through the CLAN system, that is part of NALíngua, a databank that is integrated to interdisciplinary research project coordinated by DEL RE (UNESP/FCLAr-CNPq). The analysis focuses on GUS interactions that are observed at the play with different car toys, a themed card game, also about cars, and the animated film's plot “Cars”(PIXAR, DISNEY, 2006), that are presented within a wide range of supports for the child to interact with, stimulating his verbal and nonverbal production. By examining its presence in the process of acquiring structural aspects of the language, we demonstrated how the child is able to adopt representations accessed by the use of words and expressions, due to an intersubjective process of adjustment that integrates fantasies and ludic experiences.  

OF STAGE OF THE ACADEMY: THE CONSTRUCTION DRAMATURGY OF MÃO NA LUVA, BY ODUVALDO VIANNA FILHO

Anchoring on the studies of Ubersfeld (2005), Ryngaert (1996), Pallottini (1998), Pavis (1999), Magaldi (1984, 1997) about the way of structuring of theatrical text, as well as the symbolic structuring of Chevalier and Gueerbrant (1998), this work presents as object, the analysis of the characters' speeches Ele and Ela contained in the dramatic text Mão na luva (1966), by the playwright Oduvaldo Vianna Filho. The work approaches the dynamics of the relationships between the characters seeking to analyze in a specific way the dramatic construction of Vianna Filho, observing the author's peculiar aspects and the questionable relationship between text and representation. We want to show, through the strategies of construction of the text, the poetic view of the playwright, looking for the understanding of the nuances of the social-political discourse contained in the piece, that supplies, among other aspects, important characteristics to be considered  in the analytic ambit: the identity, the social and financial situation that the protagonists are, the political-ideological convictions and the power relationships observed in a great part of the dialogues. It's important to point out that all these subjects are fundamental for the process of diegetic understanding; once, unavoidably, being generating sources of conflict.

THE DOUBLE AND THE OTHERNESS IN “O CÍRCULO”, BY RUTH LAUS

This article aims to approach the issue of deployment of the self in the short story "O círculo", by Ruth Laus, through the figure of the character Paula and the pursuit of her double. The study of the female character, while literary representation, and related to the duplicity, is associated with issues related to identity and the construction of the self, from an internal scission, allowing therefore to examine the representation of the double, permeated by issues related to otherness, especially regarding to the maintenance of subjectivity in the search of the Other as an extension of the self. The double, in turn, is established as the phenomenon able to settle an active connection with the world, the dialectic condition of the creature, as a way of affirmation from the conception of (re)cognition of the Other as a link between past-present-future in the (re)construction of the unit and establishment of the balance. For the character Paula the element that indicates the division of her personality is the aborted fetus and thenceforth begins the maintenance of the inner Self of the protagonist: find what from her was split.

A FICÇÃO DA FICÇÃO: DERRAMAMENTOS DE UM “EU” EM ROBERTO BOLAÑO

Part of the work of the Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño, who died in 2003, seemsto be articulated from certain aspects of his self. In other words, the way he writes his ownname on the text, or, how do we answer the question: “who is “I” in this text?”. Many of hisshort-stories and novels, not to mention the poems, operate strategies of hide and exposure ofthat “I” that speaks. Those strategies point to an uneven reading of his works, according to theinscription of the given name. Using the short-stories “Detectives” (1997) and “Muerte deUlises” (2007), the novel Los Detectives Salvajes (1998) and the compendium EntreParéntesis (2004), this article articulates an analysis that compares Bolaño’s aestheticsstrategies regarding his own personal history. We’ll investigate the consequences of choosingthe signature Roberto Bolaño, or Arturo Belano, his alter-ego, to the essays, the interviews orthe fiction work. The question is not the verification of the truth within the fiction, but, moreprofoundly, pose the exam in the effect of reality that comes from the subject-effect. Writing,as it is, is considered as a vehicle to the construction of the “self”, that leads to the unstableoverflow of a identity that ultimately can never be Roberto Bolaño.

THE PRACTICE OF ORAL PRODUCTION CONCERNING THE CONTINUING EDUCATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY

The scope of the present study is to comprehend the professional identity of a group of English Teachers. The research sought the answer to the following question: How does the mastery of the speaking aspect of the English Language influence teacher’s professional identity? The choice of the topic arose during a continuing education course offered by the authors of the present work, whose partakers were EFL teachers. The research took into consideration both, experiences observed during the continuing education course and relevant data collected with the help of an open questionnaire, which participants answered at the end of the course. Contemporary literature also supported the conclusions concerning teacher’s professional identity and its close relation to two important factors: the way teachers perceive themselves and how others see them. Regarding the English Language Teacher professional identity, the participants of the research stated that professionals from this area are not as valued as they should; in their opinion, the lack of oral fluency of most teachers is a key factor on the existence of a professional misrepresentation. Results have shown that, for them, oral fluency is essential for academic and social recognition of their profession. All participants stressed the need of continuing education in terms of oral practice, due to the lack of opportunity of practicing the English Language daily. They also pointed that teachers with limited-fluency tend to avoid the use of the target language in order to “hide their deficit” on EL; on the other hand, teachers that are fluent in English “feel safer and with self-steam”. We have concluded, from our research, that the oral fluency is indeed important for the constitution of English Language teacher’s professional identity, exerting a positive influence on it. On the other hand, the fact of not being fluent in English Language contributes for the so called “teacher’s professional identity crisis”.