Disability and anticipatory discourse: the interconnectedness of local and global aspects of talk.
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.
Al Zidjaly
Najma
N
English Department, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Al Khod, Oman. najmaz@gmail.com
D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D009850:Oman; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000523:psychology*; D013637:Tape Recording