TY - JOUR
T1 - Disability and anticipatory discourse
T2 - The interconnectedness of local and global aspects of talk
AU - Al Zidjaly, Najma
PY - 2006/11/1
Y1 - 2006/11/1
N2 - In this paper, I use nexus analysis framework to examine how one quadriplegic man from Oman, named Yahya, directs the course of his present (and his future) through anticipatory discourse. In particular, I analyze conversations between Yahya and me regarding his future as they relate to actions I undertake on his behalf to effect a social change: to secure Yahya, an unmarried man, a permit to hire his own resident nurse/assistant (permits for such hirings are reserved only for married couples in Oman). I demonstrate how Yahya influences me to follow his agenda through constructing a helpless identity in narrative discourse. Reciprocally, I suggest that through the actions Yahya's caregivers subsequently undertake, they succeed in giving him a sense of control over an important aspect of his life (being able to hire his own assistant), and I demonstrate how Yahya subsequently displays agentivity in his narratives. I thus illustrate the interconnectedness of Yahya's anticipatory discourse and his caregivers' (macro-level) actions that cause societal change, as well as the interconnectedness of these actions and the kinds of selves Yahya constructs through anticipatory discourse in private (micro-level) interactions.
AB - In this paper, I use nexus analysis framework to examine how one quadriplegic man from Oman, named Yahya, directs the course of his present (and his future) through anticipatory discourse. In particular, I analyze conversations between Yahya and me regarding his future as they relate to actions I undertake on his behalf to effect a social change: to secure Yahya, an unmarried man, a permit to hire his own resident nurse/assistant (permits for such hirings are reserved only for married couples in Oman). I demonstrate how Yahya influences me to follow his agenda through constructing a helpless identity in narrative discourse. Reciprocally, I suggest that through the actions Yahya's caregivers subsequently undertake, they succeed in giving him a sense of control over an important aspect of his life (being able to hire his own assistant), and I demonstrate how Yahya subsequently displays agentivity in his narratives. I thus illustrate the interconnectedness of Yahya's anticipatory discourse and his caregivers' (macro-level) actions that cause societal change, as well as the interconnectedness of these actions and the kinds of selves Yahya constructs through anticipatory discourse in private (micro-level) interactions.
KW - Agency
KW - Anticipatory discourse
KW - Disability
KW - Hypothetical future-oriented narratives
KW - Local and global aspects of talk
KW - Social change
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33751507897&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33751507897&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1515/CAM.2006.013
DO - 10.1515/CAM.2006.013
M3 - Article
C2 - 17129199
AN - SCOPUS:33751507897
SN - 1612-1783
VL - 3
SP - 101
EP - 112
JO - Communication and Medicine
JF - Communication and Medicine
IS - 2
ER -