A narratological analysis of D. M. Thoma`s: the white hotel (1981)

“A Narratological Analysis of D. M. Thomas’s The White Hotel (1981)” originated within a seminar on British Postmodernist Literature during the first Master’s Degree in “British and North-American Culture and Literature” (2001-04) at the Universidade da Madeira set up by the Department of English and German Studies. This dissertation seeks to present a narratological analysis of Thomas’s novel. The White Hotel stands as a paradigmatic example of the kind of literature that has dominated the British literary scene in the past three decades, commonly referred to as postmodernist fiction, owing to its formal craftsmanship (multiplicity of narrative voices and perspectives, mixing of differing genres and text types, inclusion of embedded narratives) alongside the handling of what are deemed as postmodernist topoi (the distinction between truth and lies, history and fantasy, fact and fiction, the questioning of the nature of aesthetic representation, the role the author and the reader hold in the narrative process, the instability of the linguistic sign, the notion of originality and the moral responsibility the author has towards his/her work), The narratological approach carried out in this research reveals that Thomas’s text constitutes an aesthetic endeavour to challenge the teleological drive that is inherent in any narrative, i. e., the inevitable progression towards a reassuring end. Hence, the subversion of narrative telling, which is a recurrent feature in Thomas’s remaining literary output, mirrors the contemporary distrust in totalising, hierarchised and allencompassing narratives. In its handling of historical events, namely of the Holocaust, The White Hotel invites us to reassess the most profound beliefs we were taught to take for granted: progress, reality and truth. In their place the novel proposes a more flexible conception of both the world and art, especially of literary fiction. In other terms, the world appears as a brutal chaotic place the subject is forced to adjust to. Accordingly, the literary work is deemed hybrid, fragmented and open. So as to put forth the above-mentioned issues, this research work is structured in three main chapters. The initial chapter – “What is Postmodernism?” – advances a scrutiny not only of the seminal but also of more recent studies on postmodernist literary criticism. Following this, in Chapter II – “Postmodernist British Fiction” – a brief overview of postmodernist British fiction is carried out, focusing on the fictional works that, in my opinion, are fundamental for the periodising of British postmodernism. In addition, I felt the need to include a section – “D. M. Thomas as a Postmodernist Novelist” – in which the author’s remaining literary output is briefly examined. Finally, Chapter III – “A Narratological Analysis of The White Hotel” – proposes a narratological analysis of the novel according to the particular Genettian analytical model. To conclude, my dissertation constitutes an approach to D. M. Thomas’s The White Hotel as a text whose very existence is substantiated in the foregrounding of the contingency of all discourses, meeting the postmodernist precepts of openness and subversion of any narrative that claims to be true, globalising and all-inclusive.

Do tratamento das reclamações à gestão da insatisfação: o comportamento de empresas hoteleiras mediante a insatisfação de seus clientes

Consumer dissatisfaction, when properly handled, is a significant information source for the manager. Studies in this area allow broadening the understanding of certain customer attitudes and behaviors, such as loyalty, repurchase intention or satisfaction and trust increase. Above and beyond supporting consumer feedback, dissatisfaction can provide significant opportunities for organizational learning. Starting from dissatisfied customer information, companies can detect service flaws and develop new products. This work presents the results of an investigation on the behavior of businesses belonging to the hotel sector in Natal, RN, through the dissatisfaction of their customers. We have sought to map the main problems presented by customers to hotels, in the perception of managers and employees, as well as to understand both the process of dissatisfactionrelated data collection, analysis, and processing, and the utilization of such information by businesses. Beyond this, we have compared the habits of organizations to the company reaction approaches described in the literature: Complaint Handling, Complaint Management, and Dissatisfaction Management. The used methodology has been based on case study. Data was collected via indepth interviews with managers and employees in six hotels, two independent ones and four belonging to national and international hotel networks. We have also made use of documents provided by the organizations, such as guest complaint registers and reports from satisfaction surveys on which content analysis was subsequently performed. The results of the investigation point to a high level of awareness in the companies concerning the importance of consumer dissatisfaction. Even though the maximum grade in the procedure scale is not achieved, it has been observed that answer to dissatisfaction is given in planned and systematic form, geared towards consumer satisfaction and improvement of products and processes. Hotel businesses still have to look into other possibilities for mapping consumer dissatisfaction, which implies, among other aspects, articulation with a range of public and private organizations in such a way as to guarantee sustainability of touristic activities in the long term

Análise da atividade de trabalho profissional de gerentes de hotel à luz da abordagem da ergonomia

This Masters degree dissertation presents a research that aims at analyzing the activities regarding within a hotel managers work in Natal/RN - Brazil, This Masters degree dissertation presents the research that aims at analyzing the activities regarding the hotel managers work in Natal / RN - Brazil, performing diagnosis of their activities and relating the aspects that impact the quality and productivity of hotel services and managers occupational health. This research is characterized as a case study with a qualitative approach, taking the method of Ergonomic Work Analysis which is the analysis of the managers work activity as a reference to the focus; and combining the use of observational and interactional methods. Ergonomics and macroergonomics are used in this study not only to understand the physical, cognitive and organizational constraints of the manager s duties, but also to characterize the work organizational architecture and design of that hotel. High workload, accumulation of tasks and diversion of functions performed by managers were noticed, increasing thereby the physical and psychological suffering for them. It was found that the activity of managers is characterized by the ambivalence of power, limited autonomy, cooperation, interdependence between managers and the fear of incompetence. It was also noticed that managers devote more time to the day job (37%), another time to sleep (30%), while only 33% of the rest of the day are meant for activities like taking care of health, family, social life and study. Although there are few studies addressing the health and safety of hotel managers, this research revealed that 84% of the surveyed hotel managers complain of musculoskeletal pain which 50% are obese and are 100% sedentary. It was also observed that managers adopt unsuitable postures for carrying out the work activities that contribute to becoming injured or work-related musculoskeletal disorders in the near future. Ergonomic measures were recommended as an investment in the skills and the training of managers, encouraging cooperative work, appropriateness of workload, limiting overtime, preserving the enjoyment of breaks during work and weekly holidays, changing the layout of the work sector , usage of communication technology to prevent displacement, compensatory physical activities, furniture adaptation, among others

Gestão de satisfação e fidelidade do cliente: um estudo com turistas em hotéis

This Thesis deals with a study on customer satisfaction and loyalty focusing on a model of factors antecedents of customer satisfaction and loyalty. The model is based on a Satisfaction Index model adopted in Norway developed by Johnson et al.(2001) and the service quality drivers from the literature. It is surveyed a sample of tourist in Natal. It is used a survey questionnaire applied at the airport in the departure moment of the tourist. The final sample results on 198 cases. Is is used a multiple regression analysis as the method to verify the factor affecting satisfaction and loyalty. Two models arise from the analysis. The first model concerning satisfaction results with cleaness and hygiene of the bathroom, leisure facilities, employees promptness, and price as the significant factors affecting satisfaction. The model has a R2 of 0.6430 and the also check in service, cleaness of the apartment and the hotel in general, bedroom setting have colinearity with some factors entering the model. The loyalty model results with satisfaction, affective commitment as the main factors affecting loyalty, with a R2 0.5396, and also image has collinearity with satisfaction. A small part of the sample has complained and this factor was not considered in the models. The results are consistent with the literature in term of quality as the main driver of the satisfaction and that it is not the only one factor to explain loyalty

Utilização de indicadores financeiros e não-financeiros na gestão de hotéis no Rio Grande do Norte: um estudo sob a ótica do Balanced Scorecard

This study presents the results of a research on the use of financial and non-financial performance indicators used by medium and large hotels. The research was conducted in Rio Grande do Norte, a Brazilian State. The objective is to identify the usage of performance measures by these companies. Hotel industry is one of the most important sectors in the Rio Grande do Norte economy. The research takes the Balanced Scorecard as a conceptual framework, since it represents an original contribution to the literature of managerial accounting, for rethinking old issues, pointing out themes that were forgotten or badly interpreted, to discuss the requirements imposed by the economy environment, dominated by competitive companies, and increasing the understanding of the relationship between strategy and operation. The objective of the research is to investigate if the hotel managers make use of a managerial information system or not, when evaluating the performance of their business unit. The research reveals the usage of performance evaluation using a large variety of measures. Among them is worth mention: the usage of accounting profit altogether with the EVA/MVA, the process cycle time, total quality management, process transformation, strategic mission, vision, strategic measures, measures related to feedback, risk, costs, productivity, incomes, customers retention, customer satisfaction and profitability, measures using time as a component, quality of the process, cost of the processes, employees capabilities, information systems, motivation, empowerment and alignment. The research leads to the conclusion that the usage of the deriving concepts of Balanced Scorecard can improve the performance measurement systems used by hotels

Acta resumida provisional de la primera sesión (Comité 4) celebrada en el Parque Hotel, Montevideo, Uruguay, el jueves 15 de junio de 1950 a las 17 y 5 horas

Incluye Bibliografía