The Ultimate Secrecy: Feminist Readings of Masculine Trauma in Vietnam War Literature

It is a widely acknowledged and often unquestioned fact that patriarchy and its modes of behaviour and social organization favour the appearance of trauma on the weakest (and defenceless) members of society: women. In the last decades, trauma seems to have taken the baton of typically female maladies such as 19th c. hysteria or 20th c. madness. Feminists in the 20th c. have long worked to prove the connection between the latter affections (and their reflection in literary texts) and patriarchal oppression or expectations of feminine behaviour and accordance to roles and rules. With Trauma Studies on the rise, the approach to the idea of the untold as related to femininity is manifold: on the one hand, is not trauma, which precludes telling about one’s own experience and keeps it locked not only from the others, but also from ourselves, the ultimate secrecy? On the other hand, when analyzing works that reflect trauma, one is astounded by the high number of them with a female protagonist and an almost all-female cast: in this sense, a ‘feminist’ reading is almost compulsory, in the sense that it is usually the author’s assumption that patriarchal systems of exploitation and expectations favour traumatic events and their outcome (silence and secrets) on the powerless, usually women. Often, traumatic texts combine feminism with other analytical discourses (one of the topics proposed for this panel): Toni Morrison’s study of traumatic responses in The Bluest Eye and Beloved cannot be untangled from her critique of slavery; just as much of Chicana feminism and its representations of rape and abuse (two main agents of trauma) analyze the nexus of patriarchy, new forms of post-colonialism, and the dynamics of power and powerlessness in ethnic contexts. Within this tradition that establishes the secrecies of trauma as an almost exclusively feminine characteristic, one is however faced with texts which have traumatized males as protagonists: curiously enough, most of these characters have suffered trauma through a typically masculine experience: that of war and its aftermath. By analyzing novels dealing with war veterans from Vietnam or the Second World War, the astounding findings are the frequent mixture of masculine or even ‘macho’ values and the denial of any kind of ‘feminine’ characteristics, combined with a very strict set of rules of power and hierarchy that clearly establish who is empowered and who is powerless. It is our argument that this replication of patriarchal modes of domination, which place the lowest ranks of the army in a ‘feminine’ situation, blended with the compulsory ‘macho’ stance soldiers are forced to adopt as army men (as seen, for example, in Philip Caputo’s Indian Country, Larry Heinemann’s Paco’s Story or Ed Dodge’s DAU: A Novel of Vietnam) furthers the onset and seriousness of ulterior trauma. In this sense, we can also analyze this kind of writing from a ‘feminist’ point of view, since the dynamics of über-patriarchal power established at the front at war-time deny any display of elements traditionally viewed as ‘feminine’ (such as grief, guilt or emotions) in soldiers. If trauma is the result of a game of patriarchal empowerment, how can feminist works, not only theoretical, but also fictional, overthrow it? Are ‘feminine’ characteristics necessary to escape trauma, even in male victims? How can feminist readings of trauma enhance our understanding of its dynamics and help produce new modes of interaction that transcend power and gender division as the basis for the organization of society?

Conflict resolution strategies : influence of organizational and professional commitment nurses

Introduction: The changes in the health area and the set of structural changes in the nursing profession and career interfere in the dynamics and stability of the future of the nurses. Objectives: To study the influence of organizational and professional commitment of the nurses in the strategies of conflict resolution. Methods: This is a quantitative, transversal and non-experimental research, following a descriptive-correlational way. Data were obtained by applying a questionnaire to nurses that work on different types of Primary Health Care Units. As measuring instruments we used three scales that grouped a total of nine subscales used to evaluate: the organizational commitment, the professional commitment and the strategies of conflict resolution. Results: The majority of nurses present moderate scores of organizational and Professional commitment with higher affective commitment to the normative commitment or instrumental commitment and feel that nursing is an interesting and challenging profession, but personal and social perception of nursing relevance is moderately weak. Nurses adopt the domination conflict resolution strategies and accommodation over the head and less integrative strategies and commitment. With subordinates more nurses adopt the avoidance strategy. When the conflictual situation arises with colleagues more endow the integrative strategies and commitment and less domination strategy. The organizational and professional commitment is significantly associated with some solving strategies conflict adopted by nurses as the conflictual situation arises with the boss, with subordinates or colleagues. Some dimensions of organizational commitment and professional foretell to significantly shape the adoption of conflict resolution strategy adopted.

Potential Arctic tundra vegetation shifts in response to changing temperature, precipitation and permafrost thaw

Over the past decades, vegetation and climate have changed significantly in the Arctic. Deciduous shrub cover is often assumed to expand in tundra landscapes, but more frequent abrupt permafrost thaw resulting in formation of thaw ponds could lead to vegetation shifts towards graminoid-dominated wetland. Which factors drive vegetation changes in the tundra ecosystem are still not sufficiently clear. In this study, the dynamic tundra vegetation model, NUCOM-tundra (NUtrient and COMpetition), was used to evaluate the consequences of climate change scenarios of warming and increasing precipitation for future tundra vegetation change. The model includes three plant functional types (moss, graminoids and shrubs), carbon and nitrogen cycling, water and permafrost dynamics and a simple thaw pond module. Climate scenario simulations were performed for 16 combinations of temperature and precipitation increases in five vegetation types representing a gradient from dry shrub-dominated to moist mixed and wet graminoid-dominated sites. Vegetation composition dynamics in currently mixed vegetation sites were dependent on both temperature and precipitation changes, with warming favouring shrub dominance and increased precipitation favouring graminoid abundance. Climate change simulations based on greenhouse gas emission scenarios in which temperature and precipitation increases were combined showed increases in biomass of both graminoids and shrubs, with graminoids increasing in abundance. The simulations suggest that shrub growth can be limited by very wet soil conditions and low nutrient supply, whereas graminoids have the advantage of being able to grow in a wide range of soil moisture conditions and have access to nutrients in deeper soil layers. Abrupt permafrost thaw initiating thaw pond formation led to complete domination of graminoids. However, due to increased drainage, shrubs could profit from such changes in adjacent areas. Both climate and thaw pond formation simulations suggest that a wetter tundra can be responsible for local shrub decline instead of shrub expansion.

Makt och motstånd i köpcentrumet

This article focuses how power and resistance are exercised in one of Stockholm’s biggest shopping centres. Power and resistance are key words in Cultural Studies. However, the tradition is dominated by studies where 'ordinary/common’ people and their everyday resistance against economical, political and symbolic power is analysed. Critics of Cultural Studies have pointed out that this domination in some cases has led to a romanticized view on common people s resistance and an unproblematic, simplified concept of power. This article works in the tradition of Cultural Studies, but takes this critique seriously by distinguishing three arenas where economic, political and symbolical forms of power intersect and clash with other interests. These are located in the tension between three sets of relations: a) the shopping centre versus the local municipality, b) the centre management versus the individual businesses that run shops in the centre, and c) the shopping centre as a whole (comprising the owners, the shops and the space itself) versus the visitors (who are predominantly women). The empirical material consists of observations and field-notes, branch statistics, interviews with customers, shop employees and centre managers, photographic documentation, advertisements and other public sources from 1998 to 2002.

The Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association

Annually, the association publishes a journal, The Proceedings, which consists of papers presented at the annual meeting. Some Municipal Fiestas and Celebrations in Colonial Hispanic America by John Preston Moore – The Citadel Jefferson Davis’s Route from Richmond, Virginia, to Irwinville, Georgia, April 2-May 10, 1865 by Nora Marshall Davis – Historical Markers Survey of South Carolina Postal Savings Banks in the United States, 1871-1939 by Nancy McIntosh – Columbia High School Legislative Domination in South Carolina by George R. Sherrill – University of South Carolina

Action en santé mentale au travail et syndicalisme québécois : l’expérience de représentants syndicaux

Dans certains milieux syndicaux québécois, des initiatives porteuses destinées à prévenir les problèmes de santé mentale au travail ont vu le jour. Des représentants syndicaux pionniers ont mis en place des structures d’entraide opérantes, obtenu des jurisprudences importantes et développé des approches innovantes pour corriger ou bonifier l’organisation du travail, et ce depuis plus de trois décennies. Alors que la montée de l’idéologie néolibérale et les principes d’organisation du travail qu’elle sous-tend engendrent une intensification du travail qui fragilise la psyché des travailleurs et que le rapport de force des syndicats s’effrite, il apparaît porteur d’interroger l’expérience de ces représentants syndicaux pour mieux comprendre comment se structure l’action syndicale en santé mentale au travail. Cette thèse fait l’étude de réalisations syndicales québécoises en matière de santé mentale au travail visant à prévenir et à corriger les problèmes de détresse psychologique, d’épuisement professionnel, de harcèlement, de dépression, de violence, de suicides reliés au travail, etc. Pour ce faire, un cadre théorique mixte a été utilisé. D’une part, une perspective large a été adoptée pour comprendre les enjeux entourant les rapports humains au travail et l’action. Pour ce faire, quatre auteurs influents de la philosophie des Lumières et de la philosophie contemporaine ont été sélectionnés, soit Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith, Karl Marx et Hannah Arendt. Dégager ces différentes perspectives du monde, de l’action et du lien social avait pour objectif de mettre en place une grille d’analyse susceptible de relier l’expérience de représentants syndicaux à ces visions du monde. Il est apparu essentiel de mieux saisir les bases idéologiques sur lesquelles ces derniers ont construit leur action pour comprendre comment elles ont influencé leur démarche singulière et collective. D’autre part, la théorie de l’expérience sociale a été retenue (Dubet, 2009; 1994) pour analyser plus finement le travail des représentant syndicaux. Celle-ci distingue trois logiques d’action complémentaires et en tension avec lesquelles doivent composer les acteurs sociaux : une logique d’intégration, une logique stratégique et logique appuyée sur la subjectivation. La coexistence de ces trois logiques signifie que l’expérience que les individus font du monde n’est pas une simple reproduction de déterminismes qui les précèdent. Les acteurs sont aussi sujets de leur expérience et capables de prendre une distance du social pour comprendre les significations de leur agir; ils s’inscrivent dans le monde dans une dialectique critique. Cette théorie apporte un éclairage permettant de dégager à la fois ce qui freine et ce qui facilite l’action individuelle et collective en matière de santé mentale au travail et de décrire comment des représentants syndicaux se mobilisent pour répondre aux nombreuses attentes des membres. Cette recherche qualitative s’est appuyée sur une méthodologie de récit de vie (Rhéaume 2008; Bertaux 2006). Vingt représentants syndicaux ont témoigné de la souffrance au travail (Dejours, 2008) vécue par leurs membres et ont présenté des actions déployées pour leur venir en aide. Les réalités décrites par les participants montrent comment certains éléments de l’organisation du travail sont associés à des expériences de domination (Martuccelli, 2004): les méfaits du productivisme et de l’hyperflexibilité, les accidents de travail, les maladies professionnelles et les situations d’horreur au travail, les rapports sociaux au travail devenus délétères et les utilisations abusives de l’appareil judiciaire. L’étude démontre aussi à quel point des initiatives portées par des représentants syndicaux contribuent à une résolution de problèmes dans une perspective d’interdépendance, de développement du pouvoir d’agir, de justice sociale et de lutte pour la dignité. Quatre catégories d’initiatives ont été retenues : l’entretien du lien social dans l’entraide au quotidien, la défense juridique et légale des membres, les clauses de convention collective et les actions sur l’organisation du travail. Enfin, la recherche dégage trois profils de représentants syndicaux : la militance qui tente de former un nous, la professionnalisation qui tente de faire reconnaitre son utilité et sa compétence, et l’entraide qui cherche à développer une action engageant le Je. Leur rencontre laisse entrevoir le développement d’une praxis syndicale qui vise à promouvoir et protéger la dignité du travail et des travailleurs.

Las reformas emprendidas en Túnez de la mano del FMI y el BM ¿Precedente para la revolución de los Jazmines?”(1987-2010)

El estallido de la “Revolución de los Jazmines” cuestionó el éxito de un país que por más de dos décadas fue exaltado por el Banco Mundial (BM) y el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) por los logros alcanzados gracias a un programa de restructuración económica. Las exigencias e inconformidades de los manifestantes, que iban más allá de la falta de garantías democráticas, permitieron ver que el país sufría de problemas estructurales relacionados a los altos niveles de desempleo, la precariedad de la situación laboral y la desigualdad. Esta monografía pretende evaluar el papel que tuvieron las reformas económicas y en general el modelo de desarrollo que siguió Túnez de la mano del FMI y el BM, en el surgimiento y consolidación de las condiciones que dieron lugar a la Revolución de los Jazmines a finales del año 2010.

Subjetividades políticas desde la representación : fotografía documental del campesinado en Colombia (1965-1975)

Esta investigación explora arqueológicamente el saber constituido sobre el campesinado en Colombia, en el período de 1965-1975, tomando como material empírico principal un archivo fotográfico documental que relacionaremos con hemerografía y las reconstrucciones socio-históricas de la década. Nuestro propósito es relacionar el archivo, sus condiciones, su porvenir, medios y definiciones con la constitución de subjetividades políticas. Las subjetividades son entendidas aquí en tanto procesos que al referir universos simbólicos socialmente compartidos, dotan al sujeto de un lenguaje cultural que a continuación internaliza, y adquiere así una singularidad que lo caracteriza y finalmente lo representa como “ser colectivo”. Descifraremos, a través de lo visible y lo oculto de las representaciones fotográficas, los enunciados posibles y las aproximaciones desde la sociología. Veremos como los discursos, por demás contradictorios, fungen a manera de proyectos de homogeneización de la cultura campesina efectuándose en la esfera de la heterogeneidad: campesinos marcados por diferencias entre sí, multiplicidad de subjetividades implicadas políticamente en los procesos inscritos dentro de la reforma agraria.

A eliminação dos muxarabis, rótulas e geolosias do Brasil : um caso de dominação econômica

O objetivo dessa dissertação de mestrado é apontar para uma possível razão que explicaria a eliminação de alguns dos prováveis contributos mouriscas à Arquitetura Brasileira - os Muxarabis, Rótulas e Gelosias - durante o Brasil Joanino e Independente ao longo do XIX. O motivo apontado seria a dominação que as nações industrializadas, nomeadamente Inglaterra, exercia sobre Portugal (a antiga metrópole) e Brasil Tais contributos mouriscas foram eliminados das cidades brasileiras através editais que obrigavam a sua retirada e foram substituídos pelo seu equivalente industrializado: as vidraças e estruturas de ferro fundido importados. ABSTRACT: The objective of this master dissertation is to indicate a possible reason that would explain the elimination of some probable Moorish contributes to Brazilian Architecture - Mashrabiyya and Lattice Work - during the Joanine and Independent Brazil through the XIX century. The indicated reason would be the domination which industrialized nations, mainly England, took over Portugal (former colonizer) and Brazil. Such contributes were eliminated from Brazilian cities by official documents forcing their removal and were replaced by their industrialized equivalent: glass window and cast iron imported.

¿Reconstrucción o abandono de las identidades?

In this article the possibilities for liberation or domination in Latin America are explored, vis-à-vis the neoliberal globalization processes taking place in Latin America. Such possibilities develop with the current efforts to recover or rebuild national identities, by the lilberation and resistance movements of the region.

MANEJO COMPARATIVO DEL AGUA: CONVENCIONAL Y SUSTENTABLE

El manejo del ecosistema agua tratado desde el enfoque moderno provoca una profunda crisis ecológica a escala planetaria, generando que la ciencia y los científicos se enfrenten a nuevos retos, como la necesidad de evaluar ecológicamente su manejo en un contexto de sustentabilidad. Situados como dos modos diferentes de apropiación o manejo del ecosistema agua, el modo sustentable y el modo convencional conforman las dos maneras de manejar el agua, que se evidencian en nueve atributos de carácter ecológico, energético, económico. agrario, cognitivo y cultural (ver Cuadro 2). La dominación interna/externa a que está sometida nuestra realidad impide el surgimiento de toda conciencia político-ecológica, crítica en el individuo.Abstract: The management of the water ecosystem under the modern approach provokes a deep ecological crisis at planetary scale, generating that science and scientists face new challenges, such as the necessity Lo evaluate ecologically its management in a context of sustainability. Presented as two radically different modes of ownership or management of the water ecosystem, the sustainable and the conventional modes are the two ways to manage water, diaL are evidenced in nine attributes of ecological, energetic, economic, agrarian, cognitive and cultural connotation.The internallexternal domination our reality is submitted to, prevenís dic emergence of every political-ecological critical consciousness on thc individuals.

EL USO POLITICO DEL TERRITORIO. CONSIDERACIONES A PARTIR DE UNA VISION DEL TERCER MUNDO

Análisis evaluativo de diversos enfoques geográficos sobre el espacio, su revelación con el Estado, entendido en su binomio poder y dominación. Se revisa la concepción de un poder unidimensional y la producción de espacio; así como las versiones del poder multidimensional, consumo del espacio y territorialidad. La concepción del espacio como producto-reflejo de la sociedad, se critica a la luz de concepción materialista del espacio. A nivel histórico, se estudian las estrategias y conflictos resultantes de la conformación de nuevos territorios y las limitaciones de acción del Estado frente a las decisiones locacionales de las grandes corporaciones multinacionales. Se fortalecen segmentos del Estado nacional, pero, a la vez, este pierde poder de decisiones ante las fuerzas internacionales y, principalmente frente a los problemas y tenciones internas. La autora sugiere diversos temas de investigación necesarios de cubrir urgentemente, tales como la relación territorio y espacio; naturaleza de los movimientos sociales de la base territorial; naturaleza del Estado contemporáneo y las relaciones ante los planes económicos y políticos y, finalmente, los limites de intervención del Estado y los problemas de legitimidad del poder. SUMMARY This is evaluative analysis of different geographic focuses concerning space-state relationships, taking into account a power and domination binomial. The concept of a unidimensional power and space production is revised; as well as versions of multidimensional power, space consumption, and territorial relationships. The space concept is taken into account as a product-reflection of society and criticized from the viewpoint of a materialistic viewpoint, strategies and conflicts are studied as the results of the confirmation of the new territories the large multinational corporations. Segments of the national state are stringency but, at the same time, the state loses its decision making powers in reference to international forces and principally in reference to problems and internal tensions. The author suggests several necessary and urgent investigative themes, such as territorial and space relationships, the nature of the social movements encountered in the territorial base, the nature of the contemporary state and of the its relationships in accordance with economic and political plants and finally, the intervention limits of the state and the problems of power legitimacy RESUME A partir d’une vision géographique, on présente et analyse les thèmes suivants: l’espace, la relation celui-ci avec l’Etat, entendu comme un bionome pouvoir et domination. On revise les concepts de pouvoir unidimensionnel et de production d’espace; de pouvoir multidimensionnel, consommation et territoriale. Le concept d’espace comme produit-réflexe de la société, est critiqué en se basant sur la conception matérialiste de l’espace. Au niveau historique, on étudie les stratégies et les conflicts qui résultent de la conformation de nouveaux territoires. On étudie aussi les limitations de l’action de l’Etat en face des décisions d’ubiquation des grandes corporations multinationales. En même temps que se fortifié certaines parties de l’Etat national, il y a une diminution de son pouvoir de décision devant des forces internationales et surtout en face de problèmes et de tensions internes.L’auteur suggère plusieurs thèmes d’investigation urgents, comme : la relation entre territoire et espace; nature des mouvements sociaux à base territoriale; nature de l’Etat contemporain et ses relations avec les plan économiques et politiques et enfin : les limites de l’intervention de l’Etat et les problèmes de légitimité du pouvoir. 

EL PUEBLO ANDINO Y SU DIALÉCTICA HISTÓRICA

ResumenEste artículo explora la sociedad andina analizada desde tres realidades: la geográfica, la socioeconómica,y la política. Sus contextos, y sus características fundamentales son estudiados. Estenos conduce a replantearnos los conceptos de realidad geográfica, libertad, dominación, opresión,realidad económica, realidad política, entre otros.Palabras clave: Pueblo andino, cultura, cultura aymara, cultura quechua, realidad geográfica, libertad,dominación, opresión, realidad económica, realidad política.AbstractThis article deals with the Andean society, analyzed from three realities; the geographical, socio-economicand political. Its contexts and its fundamental characteristics are studied. This leads us to rethink the conceptsof geographical reality, freedom, domination, oppression, economic, political reality, among others.Keywords: Andean People, culture, Aymara culture, Quechua culture, geographical reality, freedom,domination, oppression, economic reality, political reality.

In-betweeness of readings: O feitiço da ilha do Pavão (1997) e O Chalaça (1994)

This work aims to bring near the contemporary historical novels O feitiço da ilha do Pavão (1997), by João Ubaldo Ribeiro, e O Chalaça (1994), by José Roberto Torero, analyzing the crossing of references where both novels meet. These novels share a zone of mythical-literary appropriation, where they read the Hispanic myths of Don Juan and picaro. Torero’s novel rewrites situations from the Brazilian First Empire and it’s built by changing the perspective to Francisco Gomes da Silva, the “Chalaça”, friend and personal secretary of the emperor D. Peter I. In this way, the novel establishes an intertextual relationship with the traditional picaresque novel, recalling some structural motifs and textual organization that make a parody of the picaro autobiographical account. Ubaldo Ribeiro’s novel retrieves the Brazilian Colonial period, executing a concentration of that society and its time conflicts by parody, following by the tensions between the protagonist group (an its ideal of freedom and equality) and social institutions, such as the Church and Estate, symbols of domination and oppression. Don Juan appears in the novel through the aim of freedom and opposition to the established norms that is observed in the island. From this reading, we’ll try to work on specific dialogue points between both myths that can be noticed in the novels as well relating them to the romantic esthetic: the vengeance and the trip. Our study is based on the notion of the myth as a structuring principle of the narrative, according to Frye (1973, p. 333), and the comprehension of the text as heterogeneous, arranged as a mosaic of citations (KRISTEVA, 1974, p. 64).