This collection of essays on selected texts in literature, film and the media is driven by a shared theme of contesting the binary thinking in respect of gender and sexuality. The three parts of this book – “contesting norms”, “performing selves” and “blurring the lines” – delineate the queer celebration of difference and deviance. They pinpoint the limitation of assumed norms and subverting them, revel in the fluid and ambiguous self that springs from the contestation of those norms, and then repeatedly transgress and, as a result, obscure the limits that separate the normal from the abnormal. The variety of texts included in the collection ranges from a discussion of queer subjects represented in film, television and literature to that of the representations of other non-normative figures (including a madwoman, a freak or a prostitute) and to gender-role contestation and gender-bending practicing evidenced in the press, theatre, film, literature and popular culture.

Among both male and female young urban professionals in Nairobi, sexuality is a key to achieving a 'modern' identity. These young men and women see themselves as the avant garde of a new Africa, while they also express the recurring worry of how to combine an 'African' identity with the new lifestyles with which they are experimenting. By focusing on public debates and their preoccupations with issues of African heritage, gerontocratic power relations and conventional morality on the one hand, and personal sexual relationships, intimacy and self-perceptions on the other, this study works out the complexities of sexuality and culture in the context of modernity in an African society. It moves beyond an investigation of a health or development perspective of sexuality and instead examines desire, pleasure and eroticism, revealing new insights into the methodology and theory of the study of sexuality within the social sciences. Sexuality serves as a prism for analysing how social developments generate new notions of self in postcolonial Kenya and is a crucial component towards understanding the way people recognize and deal with modern changes in their personal lives.

Become a Better Leader by Improving Your Emotional Intelligence Bestselling author DANIEL GOLEMAN first brought the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) to the forefront of business through his articles in Harvard Business Review, establishing EI as an indispensable trait for leaders. The Emotionally Intelligent Leader brings together three of Goleman's bestselling HBR articles. In "What Makes a Leader?" Goleman explores research that found that truly effective leaders are distinguished by high levels of self-awareness and sharp social skills. In "The Focused Leader," Goleman explains neuroscience research that proves that "being focused" is more than filtering out distractions while concentrating on one thing. In "Leadership That Gets Results," Goleman draws on research to outline six distinct leadership styles, each one springing from different components of emotional intelligence. Together, these three articles guide leaders to recognize the direct ties between EI and measurable business results.

This collection consists of eight essays that examine the way narratives determine our understanding of old age and condition how the experience is lived. Contributors to this volume have based their analysis on the concept of »narrative identity« developed by Paul Ricoeur, built upon the idea that fiction makes life, and on his definition of »trace« as the mark of time. By investigating the traces of aging imprinted in a series of literary and filmic works they dismantle the narrative of old age as decline and foreclosure to assemble one of transformation and growth.

In this book, Gur Zak examines two central issues in Petrarch's works - his humanist philosophy and his concept of the self.

Research and theory on self-esteem have flourished in recent years. This resurgence has produced multiple perpectives on fundamental issues surrounding the nature of self-esteem and its role in psychological functioning and interpersonal processes. Self-Esteem Issues and Answers brings together these various perspectives in a unique format. The book is divided into five sections. Section I focuses on core issues pertaining to the conceptualization and assesment of self-esteem, and when self-esteem is optimal. Section II concentrates on the determinants, development, and modifiability of self-esteem. Section III examines the evolutionary significance of self-esteem and its role in psychological processes and therapeutic settings. Section IV explores the social, relational, and cultural significance of self-esteem. Finally, Section V considers future directions for self-esteem researchers, practitioners, parents and teachers. This volume offers a wealth of perspectives from prominent researchers from different areas of psychology. Each expert contributor was asked to focus his or her chapter on a central self-esteem issue. Three or four experts addressed each question. The result is that Self-Esteem Issues and Answers provides a comprehensive sourcebook of current perspectives on a wide range of central self-esteem issues.

Sutton-Smith focuses on play theories rooted in seven distinct "rhetorics"--The ancient discourses of fate, power, communal identity, and frivolity and the modern discourses of progress, the imaginary, and the self. In a sweeping analysis that moves from the question of play in child development to the implications of play for the Western work ethic, he explores the values, historical sources, and interests that have dictated the terms and forms of play put forth in each discourse's "objective" theory

In a boundary-crossing and globalizing world, the personal and social positions in self and identity become increasingly dense, heterogeneous and even conflicting. In this handbook scholars of different disciplines, nations and cultures (East and West) bring together their views and applications of dialogical self theory in such a way that deeper commonalities are brought to the surface. As a 'bridging theory', dialogical self theory reveals unexpected links between a broad variety of phenomena, such as self and identity problems in education and psychotherapy, multicultural identities, child-rearing practices, adult development, consumer behaviour, the use of the internet and the value of silence. Researchers and practitioners present different methods of investigation, both qualitative and quantitative, and also highlight applications of dialogical self theory.

This book highlights the importance of individual learner differences in learning English as a foreign language and reports the findings of a study which investigated the impact of two personality traits, which are, openness to experience and ambiguity tolerance, on target language attainment among Polish secondary school students. The book provides an exhaustive overview of the theoretical issues and existing research related to personality, emphasizing the two traits under investigation, openness, and ambiguity tolerance, which are the focus of the empirical study reported later in the book. The empirical investigation explored relationships between openness to experience and ambiguity tolerance, as well as their impact on attainment in learning English as a foreign language. Moreover, it also aimed to shed light on the link between these traits and students’ assessments (i.e., self-assessment and school grades). The findings of the study provide a basis for proposing specific profiles of foreign language learners with different levels of openness and ambiguity tolerance.

Though Heidegger’s Being and Time is often cited as one of the most important philosophical works of the last hundred years, its Division Two has received relatively little attention. This outstanding collection corrects that, examining some of the central themes of Division Two and their wide-ranging and challenging implications. An international team of leading philosophers explore the crucial notions that articulate Heidegger’s concept of authenticity, including death, anxiety, conscience, guilt, resolution and temporality. In doing so, they clarify the bearing of Division Two’s reflections on our understanding of intentionality, normativity, responsibility, autonomy and selfhood. These discussions raise important questions about how we may need to rethink the morals of Division One of Being and Time, the broader project to which that book was devoted, the shaping influence of figures such as Aristotle and Kierkegaard, as well as Heidegger’s relationship with his contemporaries and successors. Essential reading for students and scholars of Heidegger’s thought, and anyone interested in key debates in phenomenology, ethics, metaphilosophy and philosophy of mind. Contributors: William Blattner, Clare Carlisle, Taylor Carman, Steven Galt Crowell, Daniel O. Dahlstrom, Sophia Dandelet, Hubert Dreyfus, Charles Guignon, Jeffrey Haynes, Stephan Käufer, Denis McManus, Stephen Mulhall, George Pattison, Peter Poellner, Katherine Withy, Mark A. Wrathall.